Wife of Colchester contractor says she'll appeal denial of gun permit

Colchester — The wife of Bruce "Bruno" Hayn says the first selectman has denied her application for a pistol permit because her husband, charged recently with burning down his wood pellet business in Norwich, refuses to step down from the town's Board of Finance.

Patricia Hayn received a letter from First Selectman Gregg Schuster this week that says he can't approve her application for a pistol permit.

"As you know, I have recently asked your husband to resign from his position on the Board of Finance," Schuster wrote in the Feb. 6 letter. "Additionally, the Board of Selectmen has also unanimously voted to request he resign as well. Based on these circumstances, I do not believe I am in an objective position to render a decision on your permit and am therefore not approving it."

The letter goes on to say that she can appeal the decision to the state Board of Firearm Permit Examiners. She said she plans to appeal the decision and has contacted her attorney, the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.

She said she applied for the permit before her husband was charged, on Jan. 16, with first-degree arson and insurance fraud in connection with an October 2011 fire that caused extensive damage to his wood pellet business, Shur Fire, on West Thames Street in Norwich.

Schuster said in a phone interview Friday afternoon that he is neither approving nor denying the pistol permit application but asking Patricia Hayn to take it to the state because he is not in a position to render a decision.

Bruno Hayn achieved local notoriety when he led charitable home building efforts, including one that was chronicled on the "Extreme Makeover" television show.

k.florin@theday.com