NRA Leaders

Loading...

Member Profile

Robert Dowlut

Former General Counsel

Robert Dowlut

Former General Counsel

Biography

Robert Dowlut was born in the Nazis’ Augsburg slave labor camp in September 1945 to Polish parents Donald and Olga, less than five months after the U.S. Army liberated the camp. In 1949, the family emigrated to Wisconsin, and then to South Bend, Indiana. As a young man, Dowlut had several run-ins with the law. At 16, he was arrested for a crime spree using stolen weapons and a homemade zip gun, but was put on probation and graduated from Washington High School in January 1963. He then enlisted in the Army and began basic training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. Then, in November 1964, Dowlut was found guilty of second-degree murder, accused of shooting and killing Anna Marie Yocum in April 1963. After six years in prison, the court reversed the conviction, and the case was never retried. Dowlut then returned to the military, joining the 82nd Airborne Division, and served with the Army Reserve’s 12th Special Forces while he attended Indiana University South Bend. After graduating in 1975, Dowlut enrolled at Howard University School of Law. He began working for the National Rifle Association in 1977. In 1979, he graduated law school and was admitted to the D.C. Bar a year later in 1980. He has served as the NRA’s General Counsel and is currently on the NRA Civil Rights Legal Defense Fund board of directors.


All Statements (2 total)

  • In a Stanford Law & Policy Review article, published in 1977, Dowlut argued that those who argue that a significant share of serious [gun] violence is perpetrated by previously nonviolent 'average Joes' are clinging to a myth and cited another author's assertion that the 'average' gun owner and the 'average' criminal are worlds apart in background, social outlooks, and economic circumstances.” Dowlut himself was a teenage offender who was arrested at the age of 16 for a crime spree involving stolen weapons and a homemade zip gun. Additionally, Dowlut was convicted of second-degree murder for allegedly shooting the owner of a pawnshop he was trying to rob and murdering the mother of his girlfriend. Dowlut confessed to the crimes and led police directly to the murder weapon, which had been stashed in a local cemetery. That conviction was later thrown out by the Indiana Supreme Court because of bad police work. Dowlut's 75-year-old father, Donald, also reportedly used a firearm to commit suicide in 1989.

    1977-01-01


  • On April 15, 1963, Dowlut, who was 17, allegedly shot and killed Anna Marie Yocum, the 36-year-old mother of his girlfriend, Camille, after shooting and injuring Saul Berkowitz, the owner of a local pawn shop that Dowult was attempting to rob. Dowlut later confessed to the crime and took police to the place where had stashed the murder weapon, saying he wanted to marry Camille, but that her mother didn’t like him and was trying to prevent them from seeing one another. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and put in jail, but the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the conviction and ordered that he be retried. Eventually Dowlut was released from prison, and all outstanding charges were dropped due to a lack of admissible evidence.

    1963-04-15


Statements by Category (2 total)

  • Other Statements
    In a Stanford Law & Policy Review article, published in 1977, Dowlut argued that those who argue that a significant share of serious [gun] violence is perpetrated by previously nonviolent 'average Joes' are clinging to a myth and cited another author's assertion that the 'average' gun owner and the 'average' criminal are worlds apart in background, social outlooks, and economic circumstances.” Dowlut himself was a teenage offender who was arrested at the age of 16 for a crime spree involving stolen weapons and a homemade zip gun. Additionally, Dowlut was convicted of second-degree murder for allegedly shooting the owner of a pawnshop he was trying to rob and murdering the mother of his girlfriend. Dowlut confessed to the crimes and led police directly to the murder weapon, which had been stashed in a local cemetery. That conviction was later thrown out by the Indiana Supreme Court because of bad police work. Dowlut's 75-year-old father, Donald, also reportedly used a firearm to commit suicide in 1989.

    Sources [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

  • Criminal Activity
    On April 15, 1963, Dowlut, who was 17, allegedly shot and killed Anna Marie Yocum, the 36-year-old mother of his girlfriend, Camille, after shooting and injuring Saul Berkowitz, the owner of a local pawn shop that Dowult was attempting to rob. Dowlut later confessed to the crime and took police to the place where had stashed the murder weapon, saying he wanted to marry Camille, but that her mother didn’t like him and was trying to prevent them from seeing one another. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and put in jail, but the Indiana Supreme Court reversed the conviction and ordered that he be retried. Eventually Dowlut was released from prison, and all outstanding charges were dropped due to a lack of admissible evidence.

    Sources [1]