Slaying Prompts Newspaper to Reject Gun Ads

By: (AP) The Sarasota Herald-Tribune will begin rejecting classified ads for firearms after police say a man used a gun he bought through one of the ads to kill his estranged wife.

Beginning Oct. 1, the paper will accept classified advertisements only for collectible antique firearms made before 1898. The ads must be published in the "Antiques" or "Collectibles" categories. The paper's "Guns & Rifles" category will be eliminated.

Retailers can still advertise firearms in display ads and inserts but they must include their dealer's license number.

The Herald-Tribune said it is the 16th paper in the country and the fifth in Florida to agree to tighter standards for firearms advertising.

"I believe strongly that this is the right thing to do," Publisher Diane McFarlin said. "We certainly don't want to make it easier for criminals to gain access to weapons."

Under the federal Brady Law, licensed gun dealers are required to conduct criminal background checks on all buyers and maintain records of their transactions. Unlicensed individuals selling firearms from a "personal collection" are not required to conduct background checks or keep records.

Mark Williams, a convicted felon with a restraining order for domestic violence, couldn't pass a federal background check to buy a gun, police said. So he scanned the Herald-Tribune classified ads and on April 27 bought a semiautomatic handgun from another individual.

Later that day, police said, Williams used the gun to kill his estranged wife, Raquel Soliz-Williams, in front of her 9-year-old daughter.

The case prompted a group seeking to limit the number of weapons sold by unlicensed dealers to bring the matter to McFarlin's attention.

"It is such a potentially repeatable incident," said Kirsten Meredith, a spokeswoman for Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence.