IONIA, MI -- Robert Taylor, one of two men who died Wednesday in a shootout after a driving altercation, had his concealed pistol license revoked for three years because of a drunken driving conviction.

Ionia County Prosecutor Ron Schafer today confirmed that Taylor lost his license in November 2006 after a drunken-driving conviction. He registered 0.18 on a portable breathalyzer.

But he obtained a new license in November 2010 after four years.

Both Taylor and the other victim in the shootout, 43-year-old James Pullum, had valid concealed pistol permits.

They both died after exchanging gunfire in the lot of the Wonder Wand Car Wash on South Steele Street in Ionia about 7 p.m. Wednesday.

A magistrate with the Ionia County District Court earlier this week said she believed Taylor's license had never been revoked, in part because prosecutors in 2006 dropped a supplementary charge of carrying a concealed weapon while intoxicated.

Schafer on Friday, Sept. 20, said the decision to drop that supplementary charge was the difference in whether Taylor received a three-year revocation or a lifetime revocation.

If someone is convicted of carrying a concealed weapon while intoxicated, a lifetime revocation is ordered if their blood-alcohol level is 0.10 or higher.

Schafer said the decision to drop the weapons charge was made because, in this case, "the gun had nothing to do with the drunken driving."

The gun, a 9 mm handgun, was tucked in between the driver and passenger seats.

"It was a guy who had too much to drink, but also had a gun in his car," he said.

The threat to the community was the drunken driving, not the gun, Schafer said.

In any event, the drunken driving conviction triggered a review by the Ionia County gun board. Its members issued a mandatory three-year revocation.

Taylor was able to get a new license in 2010 because he had no other convictions and stayed out of trouble, Schafer said.

Taylor is believed to own dozens of guns, possibly more than a hundred, Schafer said. He is well-known to local authorities because he was "constantly" registering new guns and was a gun collector, he said.

"He was nothing ever than a polite law-abiding citizen, though," he said. "He just really knew his firearms."

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison