Police Raid Simi Store Over Illegal Pistols

Simi Valley police and federal weapons agents Thursday morning executed a search warrant on a gun shop that allegedly sold illegal pistols disguised to look like pens.

The 8 a.m. raid at Hilldale Discount Gun Sales Inc. followed the seizure July 16 of three .25-caliber Pen Pistols by a Simi Valley detective, who had spotted the illegal weapons while conducting unrelated business there, police said.

Simi Valley detectives and U. S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents seized two sets of illegal brass knuckles and a locked gun safe Thursday, along with business records to help track down customers who bought three more of the Pen Pistols, Simi Valley Police Lt. Mark Layhew said.

Police are asking anyone who bought a Pen Pistol to contact them immediately.

Police will let the Ventura County district attorney’s office decide whether to file charges against gun shop owner Steve Cotter, who is out of the country on vacation until next week, Layhew said. Employees at the store declined to comment on the case until Cotter returns.

The manufacture, sale or possession of “any firearm which is not readily recognizable as a firearm” is a felony under California law and is punishable by a prison term.

The bureau’s agents will determine whether the Pen Pistols violate any federal laws, and whether the store, its owner or the buyers could be subject to prosecution, Layhew said.

The Model 2 Pen Pistol, manufactured by American Derringer Co. of Waco, Tex., could be “very hazardous” to police and anyone else who might not realize that the owner is carrying a weapon, Layhew said.

“It’s not easily recognizable as a firearm,” he said. “These are manufactured, tooled handguns, with a two-inch rifle barrel and a safety.”

The stainless steel guns, which sold without instructions for $250 each, have grooves machined into the barrels like those found in rifles, and look much like steel ballpoint pens or tire pressure gauges, Layhew said.

They are designed for the sole purpose of killing an unsuspecting person at close range, he said.

“In the pen form, the trigger’s not exposed,” he said. “When you break it down into firing position, the trigger becomes exposed. It folds basically into a 90-degree shape.”

Customers were turned away at the door of the Tierra Rejada Road store Thursday morning by a sign that read “Closed for Inventory.”

“I bought four guns there,” said Steve Marley, a Simi Valley roofing contractor who had hoped to browse and buy ammunition and a cleaning kit Thursday. “Everything has been on the up-and-up.”

Marley said Hilldale employees always made him fill out proper paperwork and wait 15 days before picking up his guns, as required by law.

“Hopefully they haven’t done anything felonious because they have a good selection there,” Marley said. “These guys have everything you need.”

Times staff writer Phil Sneiderman contributed to this report.