A Denver man arrested for allegedly selling firearms to a felon talked with the buyer about how certain guns and types of ammunition could be used to shoot police officers, according to a court record.
Conard Kern — who is accused of selling 14 guns to a federal informant who is a felon as well as facilitating a theft from the gun store where he worked — told the informant that he could pierce police body armor if he used a certain kind of bullets.
“Any beat cop, any cop on the street this is sailing through both sides,” Kern told the informant, according to the criminal complaint filed against Kern in federal court.
Kern also told the informant that one particularly high-powered rifle he sold the informant, “swiss cheeses cars,” according to the complaint.
“It’s … going through both sides of that car all day long,” the complaint quotes Kern as saying, later adding, “You can’t … hide from it.”
The statements were the centerpiece of the government’s argument today that Kern is a danger to the community and needs to be kept in jail while awaiting trial.
“This was a flagrantly illegal sale, and the defendant had no regard for what these weapons would be used for,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Barbara Skalla said.
But Kern’s defense attorney, Matthew Golla, countered that the statements are repeated in the complaint without context or information about what may have prompted them. They could be just talk, he said.
“People may say these things, but they don’t want to do these things,” Golla said.
Kern also pleaded for lenience, telling federal Magistrate Judge Michael Hegarty that he is hard-working and non-violent.
“I’ve never been involved in anything like this,” Kern said, “and I’m thoroughly terrified of what is going on.”
Hegarty said he would make a decision about whether Kern could be released on bond at a later time.
Kern, 27, was arrested Thursday and charged with several counts of gun trafficking. In several sales to the informant, Kern is accused of removing serial numbers from the firearms and, in at least one instance, he is accused of modifying a gun to make it fully automatic.
Kern is also accused in the complaint of organizing a theft at the gun store where he worked so that he could later sell the firearms. And a police officer working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives testified today that Kern may be involved in other illegal sales to criminals.
Meanwhile, the owner of G&G Guns in Lakewood, where Kern worked, says Kern talked with him several times about survival scenarios in the event of a “civil insurrection” or, more fancifully, a “zombie revolution.”
Warren Marshall said Kern told him he keeps a “bug-out bag,” which includes food, water, guns and survival supplies.
“He’s an enthusiastic shooter,” Marshall testified. “He enjoys firearms.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com.
