Oak Harbor man goes to trial on gun charges

10/1/2003

An Ottawa County man is to go on trial next week on federal weapons charges.

The trial of Francis Warin, 72, of Oak Harbor, Ohio, will begin Oct. 8 before Judge David Katz of U.S. District Court in Toledo. Warin was indicted in June on charges of illegal possession of firearms, mailing a firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, authorities said.

A gun rights advocate, Warin mailed a homemade gun and silencer to an assistant U.S. attorney in Toledo in May, according to authorities. Warin has said he wanted to be arrested and charged to draw attention to what he believes are unconstitutional restrictions on gun ownership.

Warin was convicted in the 1970s of possessing an illegal weapon after building a 9 mm submachine gun and taking it to the federal courthouse in Toledo. He received three years' probation and was ordered not to possess any firearms.