The order was given by Judge Thomas Durkin of the environmental division of the Vermont Superior Court. He issued an unusual writ of mittimus to all law enforcement officials in the state to take the Pawlet resident into custody.
This is the latest chapter in a long-running feud between Banyai and local officials over zoning issues related to his gun range. The owner messaged associates Thursday night that he was at home waiting to be taken into custody. “Please help me, I am fighting all alone.”
Banyai purchased the property in 2013 and built his 30-acre range. Neighbors complained about the noise, and town officials quickly asserted that structures were constructed without proper permits.
He defended himself by noting that the facility is safe, and he operates a “firearms education center” along with an organic farm.
Pawlet politicians were unconvinced, and after they failed to shut him down through zoning they sued Banyai in the state’s environmental court. He was given 135 days to remove unpermitted structures from the property but ignored the edict.
In February, he was declared in contempt of court and has been accruing fines of $200 per day ever since.
Banyai’s attorney, Robert J. Kaplan, is appalled that his client will apparently serve time in state prison over the issue. He said opposition to the gun range was immediate. “Guns scare them and people moving around with guns really scares them. The people in the town formed a posse to drive the new guy out of town — over zoning issues.”
Kaplan noted that after attacks using zoning laws failed, local officials approached a state senator for help in finding a way to shutter the gun range. They were rewarded with the passage of a new law making it a felony to operate a “paramilitary training camp” in Vermont.
If there were no applicable zoning laws in the case, the locals’ actions against Banyai have the smell of a witch hunt. This case should be closely observed by Second Amendment advocates.
