Gun Policy News
Firearm collectors mentioned in mass media
Breakdown of NZ Firearms Endorsements
10 December 2017
Stuff (New Zealand)
Data From Infographic Showing Number of Endorsed License Holders
B (Pistol) category: 3,840
C (Collector) category: 4,003
D (Dealer) category: 462
E (Military Style Semi Automatic) category: 6,941
F (Dealer Restricted) category: 526
V (Visitor) category:... (GunPolicy.org)
Norwegian Police Seize Over 1,000 Illegal Guns from Collectors
21 September 2016
News in English (Norway)
Norwegians often refer derisively to how guns flourish among the public in the US, but Norway also has a high per capita amount of weapons in addition to being a weapons producer. Weapons are found in many households in Norway, for hunting or civil defense purposes. Far from all of them are legally registered, and that's what prompted the police raids carried out so far this year.
Newspaper Ringerikes Blad reported Wednesday that between 500 and 600 weapons were seized... (GunPolicy.org)
Large War Weapons Seizure from Gun Collector in Algeria [FR]
13 May 2016
Breizh Info
[Translated summary: Algeria National Police has seized MG 13, 34 and 42, one MP40, 6 Mauser rifles, pistols, ammunition and 500 kg. of explosives from a collector's house. None of these weapons were declared and they all belonged to the A category, the most regulated.]
La Police nationale a effectué une saisie d'armes de grande ampleur, mercredi matin , à Trémereuc (22) à côté de Dinard. Cette prise a été réalisée lors d'une perquisition chez un... (GunPolicy.org)
United States,Sweden,United Kingdom,Australia,Japan,Switzerland,Israel,South Africa
Americans Face Extreme Difficulty Exporting Their Guns
27 April 2016
Wall Street Journal, Blog
When American Tom Heberlein tried to import his firearms to Sweden, he got as far as his transfer in the U.K. before it started to become complicated. There, despite having the correct paperwork, a U.K. customs official said: "You can't have these guns."
And thus began Mr. Heberlein's global gun education.
Although Mr. Heberlein did, after a lot of negotiation, finally get his guns through U.K. customs and in to Sweden, the entire experience created a hassle he hadn't... (GunPolicy.org)
Restricted Guns Up 82% in Canada Under Tory Government
11 February 2016
iPolitics (Canada)
The number of restricted firearms across Canada rose more than 82 per cent while Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in power, with the sharpest increase after the Conservatives formed a majority government.
The increase is found in calculations made by iPolitics from statistics found in several reports of the federal Commissioner of Firearms, which released its 2014 report last month.
One of the biggest increases was in Alberta, where the number of restricted guns rose... (GunPolicy.org)
France,Bosnia & Herzegovina,Croatia,Kosovo,Macedonia,Montenegro,Serbia
How Did the 13 November Paris Killers Get Their Guns?
17 November 2015
Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)
How Did the 13 November Paris Killers Get Their Guns?
Full details of the arms used in the 13 November massacres will emerge in time. This post provides some information on illicit automatic weapons, such as the Kalashnikov, in France, and how they reach illicit markets.
Overall, it appears that there is a pool of several thousand illicit military style firearms in France and relatively small numbers are trafficked in from abroad. Such quantities mean that terrorists... (GunPolicy.org)
Collector Busted in Denmark for Guns Without Permits
12 June 2014
Copenhagen Post
Police searching the residence of a 51-year-old man's home in Ringsted on Tuesday found a large arsenal of antique weapons for which the collector didn't have the necessary permits.
Politiken reports that a total of 48 firearms were found: 20 pistols, 2 revolvers, 5 shotguns, 20 rifles and a machine gun. The search also uncovered 16,000 rounds of ammunition, gunpowder and a couple of hand grenades without detonators.
The police emphasised that the man did not have any... (GunPolicy.org)
Airgun Licensing Bill Introduced in Scotland
15 May 2014
BBC News
Anyone who owns an airgun will need a licence under new measures proposed by the Scottish government.
The licensing system is included in a new bill that has been laid with the Scottish Parliament to impose tighter controls on air weapons.
The proposals follow a long-running campaign by the Scottish government to crack down on the misuse of airguns.
It followed the death of two-year-old Andrew Morton, who was shot in the head with an airgun in Glasgow in 2005.
Mark... (GunPolicy.org)
South African Athlete Accused of Murder had 'Great Love' for Guns
17 March 2014
CBS News (USA)
PRETORIA, South Africa - Months before he killed his girlfriend, Oscar Pistorius said he drew his gun and went into "combat mode" after thinking he heard the noise of an intruder at his home, which turned out to be a washing machine, a South African gun expert testified Monday at the athlete's murder trial.
Sean Rens also said Pistorius wanted to buy seven more guns in 2012 - to add to the 9 mm pistol he already owned for self-defense - and asked the firearm trainer to... (GunPolicy.org)
Former Swiss Cop Convicted for Selling Illegal Machine Guns
16 September 2013
Local (Switzerland) / 20 Minutes (Geneva)
A former Basel police detective received a ten-month suspended jail sentence on Monday for using his position to acquire and re-sell illegal machine guns, firearms, hand grenades and other accessories.
The 51-year-old, who worked for the cantonal police force for 20 years, was authorized to order guns and other weapons, according to an online report from 20 Minutes newspaper.
However, he took advantage of his position to order firearms, which he paid for with his own... (GunPolicy.org)
28 August 2013
Cairns Post
A Queensland Police sergeant has resigned in disgrace over an anti-corruption probe into an alleged stash of illicit weapons found in his private armoury that had been handed in under the gun amnesty.
Former officer-in-charge of Ravenshoe Police Station Michael Musumeci, a licensed gun collector and amateur war historian, resigned two weeks ago as part of an ongoing internal audit and investigation by Ethical Standards Command. Detectives reportedly found an arsenal of... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Man in Stand Off Had 182 Guns in His Name
31 July 2013
CBC News (Canada)
A 20-hour standoff between police and a 71-year-old man holed up in a Côte Saint-Luc, Que., home ended just after 8 a.m. ET after he was shot with a rubber bullet and taken into custody.
Const. Daniel Lacoursière of the Montreal police said Wednesday morning that a suspect was arrested by a police tactical unit without incident. He was identified as Isidore Havis by family lawyer Jeffrey Boro.
He did not have any apparent injuries, but was taken to hospital for... (GunPolicy.org)
Greek Police Find Suspected Gun Dealer During Hunt for Missing Girl
30 July 2013
Ekathimerini (Greece)
Police searching for a missing 16-year-old girl in the Athens neighborhood of Dafni stumbled upon an arms cache and arrested a 44-year-old man they believe may be a weapons dealer.
Officers searched an apartment block in the area on suspicion that the teenager had been there with a 29-year-old convicted murderer and rapist who escaped recently from Grevena Prison.
They found traces that the fugitive and the 16-year-old had been in the building's underground... (GunPolicy.org)
Chinese Police Destroy Over 300 Guns After Anti-Crime Campaign
16 July 2013
Global Times (China)
Police destroyed more than 300 confiscated firearms Tuesday outside a steel plant in Baoshan district.
The seized weapons were the fruit of a citywide campaign to reduce crimes with dangerous weapons, according to a press release from the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau. Police also confiscated about 13,000 bullets, 2,200 controlled knives and blades, and 340 pellet guns.
"We seized some of the guns at security inspection points, like the ones at train... (GunPolicy.org)
Brisbane Man Facing Jail After Cache of Unregistered Guns Seized
8 July 2013
Courier-Mail (Brisbane)
A Brisbane gun buff faces possible jail time over a secret cache of high-powered firearms he allegedly built up over two decades.
A raid on the 52-year-old family man's Alexandra Hills home has netted 23 firearms, including nine shotguns, 12 rifles, a concealable firearm and a slew of ammunition.
Detective Inspector Tony Parsons said it was a "significant seizure (that's) reflective of what firearms may be out in the community that haven't been appropriately... (GunPolicy.org)
South Africa's Oscar Pistorius Applied for Six Restricted Guns
19 February 2013
Independent (South Africa)
Pretoria - Oscar Pistorius applied for six separate firearm licences in January. Less than a month later, he stands accused of fatally shooting his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The killing took place during the early hours of Thursday at his luxury home in Pretoria.
On Tuesday, as the Paralympian prepares to show compelling reasons why he should be released on bail, The Star can reveal that Pistorius applied for licences for the following firearms:
- A Maverick... (GunPolicy.org)
Assault Weapons Arsenal Found at Home of Scotland Gang Family
28 October 2012
Daily Record (Scotland)
An ally of the Daniel crime clan has been caught with an arsenal of guns – including three AK-47 assault rifles stashed in his loft.
Police discovered the machine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition when they smashed into the home of Terence Carvell, 56.
Downstairs, they found dozens of legal and deactivated firearms. But upstairs in the house in Milton of Campsie, near Glasgow, they found three AK-47 Kalashnikovs and a pistol, oiled and ready for... (GunPolicy.org)
Bulgaria Police Seize Assault Weapons from Flour Mill
18 October 2012
Focus News (Bulgaria)
Plovdiv - Bulgarian police found a military arsenal of Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and twenty firearms of collector's value at a flour-mill close to the town of Asenovgrad, district of Plovdiv (Central South Bulgaria).
"No arrests are made yet," said Senior Commissioner Todor Chonov, Director of the District Interior Ministry Directorate – Plovdiv, speaking for Radio FOCUS – Plovdiv.
Chonov explained that the operation was realised by the General Directorate... (GunPolicy.org)
Who Owns Northern Ireland's 153,000 Legally Held Guns?
23 August 2012
The Detail (Ireland)
As the Department of Justice consults on proposed changes to firearms licensing laws here, The Detail can reveal information about the owners of Northern Ireland's 153,459 legally held guns.
Almost 60,000 members of the public own over 146,000 firearms with the remaining 7,018 legally held guns belonging to serving police and prison officers.
The Detail has been given rare access to information stored on the PSNI's Shogun firearms database in response to a Freedom of... (GunPolicy.org)
Perth 13-gun Seizure Spurs Call for Australian Firearm Licence Limit
6 March 2012
Sydney Morning Herald
A Rockingham man charged with multiple weapon, ammunition and drug offences at the weekend had been granted up to 13 separate and concurrent firearms licences, leading the state opposition to call for a limit to be set.
Thirteen firearms, plus several thousand rounds of ammunition for which the 36-year-old man did not have a licence, methamphetamines, nearly $18,000 in cash and other weapons including a machete, a sling shot and expandable batons were seized from a... (GunPolicy.org)
Canada's Gun Lobby Reloads, Plans to Attack Firearm Licensing Next
27 February 2012
Macleans (Canada)
The final House of Commons vote to end the federal firearms registry was greeted Feb. 15 on Parliament Hill with a low-key cocktail party. Long-time opponents of the 1995 Liberal gun control bill, still spoken of hissingly out West as C-68, gathered to celebrate with the Prime Minister. Perhaps surprisingly, there was little visible jubilation on the Prairies about the end of a nearly 20-year fight. The streets of Alberta and Saskatchewan did not live up to Torontonian... (GunPolicy.org)
Europe,Norway,Netherlands,United Kingdom,Germany,Finland,Switzerland
Gun Attacks in Europe and Their Effect on Gun Control Laws
14 December 2011
BBC News
As more details emerge of the shooting spree and grenade attack in Belgium in which five people died, the BBC News website takes a look at other recent incidents in Europe - and the effect they have had on each country's laws.
Norway
Seventy-seven people were killed in twin attacks on 22 July 2011 in Norway. Anders Behring Breivik has admitted that he planted a car bomb that exploded close to government offices in the capital Oslo, killing eight people. He then drove... (GunPolicy.org)
Important Arsenal Seized in Home of 81-yr Old Man in France [Fr]
8 September 2011
Le Figaro (France) / AFP
[Translated summary: An important stockpile of firearms - rifles, grenades, rocket launcher, etc - was seized downtown Lyon in the home of an 81 years old collector.]
Plusieurs centaines d'armes - des fusils mais aussi des obus, des grenades, des lance-roquettes ou des mines antichars - ont été saisies aujourd'hui dans le centre-ville de Lyon au domicile d'un collectionneur de 81 ans, a-t-on appris auprès de la police et de la préfecture.
La police est intervenue... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Police Worker Hid Machine Gun, Other Guns, Lied to Cops, No Conviction
30 July 2011
Dominion Post (Wellington)
Military memorabilia enthusiast Patrick Phipps says he is giving up gun collecting after a judge discharged him without conviction for having two semi and fully automatic rifles hidden in plastic mannequins.
In the Wellington District Court yesterday Phipps was ordered to donate $3000 to the Starship Foundation, which Phipps said he was happy to do before leaving court.
"I would support that charity anyway, and I am happy to do it," he said after the hearing.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Justifiable Killings by Police and Private Citizens Rise in Virginia and the US
29 May 2011
Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia)
The number of justifiable killings committed by police and private citizens has been trending upward over the past decade, rising in 2009 to their highest levels in more than a dozen years in both Virginia and the nation.
There are no definitive answers to what is causing more law-enforcement officers and individuals to use deadly force in dealing with crime. But some criminologists say changing attitudes about the circumstances in which lethal force can be used in... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Dealers: NZ New Laws on Imports of Imitation Guns Will Be Ineffective
14 May 2011
3 News (New Zealand)
The owner of the country's biggest gun store says new rules aimed at restricting imports of airguns which replicate the real thing will do little to reduce crime.
An amendment to the Arms Act will mean people who import replica airguns must first obtain a permit from the commissioner of police.
David Tipple imports around 10,000 airguns every year and he now fears around 20 percent or 2,000 of those guns will require a permit before he can bring them in.
"Under the... (GunPolicy.org)
Deadly Arsenal of Self Confessed British 'Gun Fanatic' Jailed for 16 Years
8 April 2011
Daily Mail (UK)
It is a fearsome array of weapons including a Kalashnikov, Uzi sub-machine gun, shotguns and pistols.
But this astonishing arsenal was not seized from a gang of organised criminals, but the private collection of a fruit and veg trader.
David Evans had claimed he only bought replica weapons to use for 'war games' in his loft, where he kitted out mannequins with imitation guns to recreate scenes from war movies such as Saving Private Ryan.
But yesterday the... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Alberta Gun Collector Loses 12 Handguns in 'Targeted Robbery'
23 February 2011
Calgary Herald (Alberta)
A dozen guns are believed stolen from a collector after a home invasion in Ogden on Tuesday morning.
Police say at 11 a.m. two men rang a doorbell in the 8000 block of 20A Street S.E. and pulled a gun on the home's occupant.
They demanded the man's firearms. After being shown where the guns were kept, the man was tied up.
Police say the suspects left in a charcoal grey newer model Chevrolet pickup with chrome rims that was driven by a third suspect.
The victim, who... (GunPolicy.org)
Threatening, Aggressive German Gun Collector Found with 362 Weapons
9 February 2011
Agence France Presse
German police were stunned on Wednesday to find an arsenal of 362 weapons at the house of an 83-year-old man, including rifles and machine guns as well as armour-piercing bullets.
Authorities raided the man's house in Beckingen in western Germany after he had "become increasingly threatening and aggressive to people around him," police said in a statement.
"The raid team was pretty astonished," it added.
They discovered 35 rifles, 77 handguns, a G3 assault rifle and... (GunPolicy.org)
Innocent Ontario Gun Collector, or Bomb-scare Suspect with Illegal Arsenal
20 December 2010
Timmins Times (Ontario)
Police are shooting down the notion that the man arrested for weapons offences in South Porcupine Friday was nothing more than a gun collector who didn't do his paperwork properly. The comments were made a news conference at the OPP office in South Porcupine Monday.
Friends of 26-year-old Donald Chalmers indicated Monday that Chalmers is a bona fide gun collector who got caught up in a bad situation when police executed a search warrant at his home at 148 Front Street... (GunPolicy.org)
Machine Gun, Arsenal Seized as BC Gun Collector Pulls Pistol on Mounties
2 December 2010
Kamloops Daily News (British Colombia)
RCMP emptied a room full of rifles, bulletproof vests and thousands of rounds of ammunition from the home of a suspect who ended up getting shot by police at Sun Peaks Resort.
Gregory Warren McNeil, 43, faces a number of firearms and threats charges for allegedly threatening a local financial institution with a firearm. He could be charged with additional offences in connection with the find, which came two days after the shooting incident, Const. Cheryl Bush said... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Canadian 'Gun Lover' Pleads Guilty to Making Machine Guns
3 September 2010
Telegram (Newfoundland)
With homemade, automatic weapons in front of him, Const. Chris Young doesn't understate the potential danger.
"These things can be devastating in the wrong hands," the RCMP officer says.
The firearms on the table include a .22-calibre rifle and an AK-M (AK-47) rifle that were turned into automatic weapons.
Also laid out are a 1911-style pistol and a German submachine-gun. Both were handcrafted.
All four weapons are the handiwork of Jason Patrick Loder, who even... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Court Mulls Fate of 'Avid Gun Lover' Who Made Machine Guns
24 August 2010
Telegram (Canada)
An avid gun lover, who says he made automatic weapons because it was the only way to collect them, will have to wait for his punishment on multiple firearms-related charges.
Sentencing for Jason Patrick Loder, 26, was scheduled to take place after the facts of his case were heard at provincial court in St. John's Monday afternoon.
However, due to trouble getting a photo presentation to work, there wasn't enough time for Crown prosecutor Dana Sullivan to question... (GunPolicy.org)
Pro-gun Lawmakers Stall Bill to Restrict Machine Guns in Massachusetts
10 May 2010
Boston Herald
Machine gun ownership in the Bay State is booming, while a bill to tighten ownership and outlaw full-auto free-for-alls like the one that killed an 8-year-old boy two years ago is jammed on Beacon Hill.
Gov. Deval Patrick's bill, "An Act to Reduce Firearm Violence," is a controversial overhaul of the state's gun laws that would limit firearm purchases to one per month and ban anyone who is not a cop or the licensed owner from holding a machine gun.
The Bay State may... (GunPolicy.org)
Police Take 150 Guns from Pennsylvania Collector Waving Assault Rifle
23 March 2010
WPXI-TV News (Pennsylvania)
McCANDLESS, Pennsylvania - Police recovered about 150 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition from a one-bedroom apartment following a four-hour standoff in McCandless.
Target 11 has learned that this wasn't 52-year-old Russell Laing's first run-in with police.
In the late 1990s, West Deer Township police said officers responded to Laing's home for a report of a suicidal man with an assault rifle.
That standoff ended peacefully and authorities confiscated seven... (GunPolicy.org)
Montana Gun Collector Gets 6yrs for Unregistered Machine Gun Possession
23 March 2010
ABC News (USA)
HELENA, Montana - A 55-year-old South Carolina man has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for possessing an unregistered machine gun.
Zollie L. Byrd was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell in Helena. Lovell ordered his sentence to be served after a four-year, three-month sentence Byrd received in South Carolina.
Byrd was convicted in January 2009 in South Carolina for possession of machine guns, a... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Gun Collector Loses Job, Kills 2 Workmates, Self With Long Gun
13 March 2010
Vancouver Sun
EDMONTON, Albarta - One Edmonton police officer who sped to the scene of shooting in the city's west-end Friday morning arrived to find her husband was among the dead.
By the time police reached the Great West Chrysler dealership, the shooting had stopped and two men lay dead. One has been identified as Dave Burns, a disgruntled employee who had recently been suspended from his job. The other was the car dealership's parts manager, Garth Radons, the husband of an... (GunPolicy.org)
Tennessee Gun Collector, Drug Dealer Blows Whistle on US-Mexico Trade
8 March 2010
Scripps Howard News Service (USA)
The U.S. boss of a violent Mexican drug cartel who admitted ordering a hit on someone who ran afoul of him has been a busy man since authorities nabbed him and 34 kilograms of his cocaine at the border.
He's traveled to Williamsport, Pa., to accompany his son on a Little League baseball trip. He's attended his sister's graduation from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He's vacationed with his family in Panama City, Fla. He's trekked to Las Vegas twice, once... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Collector, 'Paranoid' Security Guard Kills Police Officer in California
27 February 2010
Associated Press
FRESNO, California - The man who authorities say killed one law enforcement officer and wounded two others in a gunbattle at his mobile home was a paranoid private security guard who kept a gun collection and told his wife he would rather die than go to prison, authorities said Friday.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer identified Rick "Ricky" Ray Liles, 51, as the shooter and said he had been taking medication for depression and probably took his own life with a gunshot... (GunPolicy.org)
California Deputy Killed in Gun Battle with Firearm Collector
25 February 2010
New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — A California sheriff's deputy was fatally shot and two other officers were wounded Thursday morning when a fire investigation in rural Fresno County turned into a gun battle and standoff between law-enforcement authorities and an unidentified suspect.
Thursday night the suspect was found dead by a SWAT team from the Fresno County sheriff's office at the scene of the standoff, the suspect's mobile home in the tiny farming town of Minkler in an... (GunPolicy.org)
Toronto Lawyer Loses 30 Handguns to Thieves, Police Remove 170 More
23 February 2010
Toronto Sun (Ontario)
Toronto Police seized about 170 firearms from a Toronto lawyer's downtown home following a break-in, but believe dozens of handguns have been stolen.
And investigators fear those guns may already be in the hands of dangerous thugs.
Toronto Police say they were called to a fourth-floor apartment on Isabella St., near Church St., around 7:30 a.m. Monday by someone who was looking after the place while the resident, lawyer and avid gun collector Calvin Martin, is in... (GunPolicy.org)
North Carolina Collector of Assault Weapons Also a Convicted Murderer
19 February 2010
ABC News (USA)
SALISBURY, North Carolina - Authorities have arrested and charged a convicted felon who had a large number of guns at his home in Salisbury.
Investigators with the Rowan County Sheriff's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) received a tip that Jessie Sexton was a convicted felon and had several firearms at his home on Jacob Bost Road.
Assault rifles, shotguns, handguns, rare and collectible guns were all seized.
In 1982, Sexton was convicted... (GunPolicy.org)
Fatal Gunplay in Maine Sex Dungeon Goes to Trial
13 January 2010
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine - A gun collector who introduced several weapons into sexual play with two other men contends the fatal shooting of one of them in Maine last spring was an accident.
The trial has shed light on a dungeon in a South Portland home filled with sex toys that three men used as a drug-fueled escape from reality.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese (mahr-KAY'-zee) told jurors the focus should be on the handling of the gun — not the sexual acts in the... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed UK Gun Collector Gets 5yrs for 'Aladdin's Cave' of Illegal Firearms
30 December 2009
Telegraph (UK)
A pensioner who was found with an "aladdin's cave" of more than 50 firearms, including a home made cannon, has been jailed for five years.
Roy Bennett, 71, was living in a farm cottage Heywood, near Rochdale, when he amassed the guns. He pleaded guilty to nine firearms offences at Bolton Crown Court last week.
In March this year, officers from Rochdale CID executed a search warrant at Bennett's home.
Bennett had a firearms licence for rifles, but police received... (GunPolicy.org)
Ex-wives, 156 Illegal Guns in Quebec 'Hell Hath No Fury' Saga [Fr]
20 October 2009
La Voix de l'Est (Quebec)
Translated Summary: Judge denies bail 'without hesitation' to trucker/gun collector caught with 84 smuggled, unregistered, prohibited firearms, noting the accused threatened to blow up the police tipster's house if she reported the guns, as well as the 72 boxes seized for which matching firearms could not be found. The man left Switzerland to avoid paying spousal support to an ex-wife.
GRANBY, Quebec — Le tribunal a refusé hier de remettre en liberté un homme... (GunPolicy.org)
Collector Gets Guns Back, Shoots Man, RCMP Seizes 43 Firearms, Again
7 October 2009
Halifax Chronicle-Herald (Nova Scotia)
The mother of an ATV driver who was shot early Sunday says the man accused of firing on her son should never have had his weapons returned to him.
Rhonda Dixon is the mother of Jeremy Shand, 28, who was peppered with No. 4 birdshot while he and a friend drove all-terrain vehicles near a Carleton Village, Shelburne County, home.
Ms. Dixon said her son is lucky to be alive and she is alarmed at how a man who once had his guns taken away from him could get them back and... (GunPolicy.org)
Naked, Licensed Canadian Gun Collector Shot ATV Rider, 43 Guns Seized
6 October 2009
Halifax Chronicle Journal (Nova Scotia)
YARMOUTH — RCMP say a man was shot in the back while riding an ATV early Sunday in Carleton Village, Shelburne County.
Michael Laurie Goulden, 49, appeared in Yarmouth provincial court Monday after he is alleged to have shouldered a 12-gauge shotgun and opened fire at close range on two ATV riders in the pre-dawn darkness.
He is charged with assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, pointing a gun and careless use of a firearm.
He was released on $500... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Collector Loses Dozens of Handguns, Rifles from Storage Unit
24 September 2009
Roseville Press Tribune (California)
Twenty-one — and likely many more — firearms were reported stolen from a Roseville self-storage facility this month, according to a police report.
The weapons, including both handguns and rifles, were part of a relative's collection that the Roseville victims had stored at All American Self Storage on Taylor Road since January 2008. But the victims didn't discover the burglary until Sept. 10, when they went to check on the facility.
No laws forbid the keeping of... (GunPolicy.org)
South Korea to Sell 108,000 US Rifles Received for WWII - Back to USA
23 September 2009
BBC News
South Korea has come up with a novel way to boost its defence budget — by selling a vast stockpile of old Korean-war rifles to collectors in the US.
The guns were originally sent to Korea as military aid, and some were also used during the war in Vietnam.
For more than five decades, they have been kept mothballed in warehouses.
Most of those on offer are M1 rifles — a weapon once described by US General George S Patton as "the greatest battle-implement ever... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Gun Collector Sold 121 Handguns, Machine Guns to NZ Gangs
29 August 2009
New Zealand Herald
The last act in laying bare John Noel Mabey's big lie occurred on Tuesday but the danger to the public will go on for years.
After two years, Mabey, 45, finally admitted in the Thames District Court that the burglary in which he claimed his entire collection of 121 restricted firearms (pistols, machine guns and military-style semi-automatics) was stolen, was an elaborate fake.
Not that anyone had believed him for long. The suspicion of the police officer who... (GunPolicy.org)
Indiana Police Lieutenants Resign Over Theft, Sale of Seized Crime Gun
13 July 2009
Warsaw Times-Union (Indiana)
A Warsaw Police Department officer who recently resigned his lieutenant rank is being investigated by Indiana State Police.
The Times-Union confirmed this morning that former WPD Lt. Joe Stanley is being investigated in connection with a gun that was confiscated during a WPD investigation.
According to an official close to the situation, Stanley allegedly took a gun that was at the center of a stolen credit card case. The gun, purchased with a stolen credit card and... (GunPolicy.org)
400 Weapons, 5 Tonnes of Explosives Seized from French Gun Collector
17 June 2009
Agence France Presse
STRASBOURG, France — French gendarmes said on Wednesday they had arrested a gun enthusiast who hoarded an arsenal of 400 weapons and 5.5 tonnes of ammunition, from assault rifles to hand grenades, at his home.
Forty-nine-year-old Francis Rinck, who lives with his mother in eastern France, had amassed a huge stash of combat weapons, one third knives and two thirds firearms including machine-guns and assault rifles.
Rinck, who describes himself as a "compulsive... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed US Gun Dealer, Collector Loses 80 Machine Guns to Thieves
27 May 2009
KPRC-TV News (Texas)
HUFFMAN, Texas — A burglar stole enough automatic weapons to equip an entire platoon, Harris County investigators told KPRC Local 2 Wednesday.
Officials said 60 AK-47 assault rifles and 20 Mac-10 machine pistols are on the streets after they were stolen in a heist in Huffman.
"I'm upset because that many guns got to the public where they could cause death or damage somebody," said Carl Poteet, the owner of Poteet Dirt Yard.
Harris County investigators said the... (GunPolicy.org)
Police Have 'Lost Control' of Guns in New Zealand, Registration Needed
12 May 2009
TV3 News / NZPA
Police have "no idea" how many guns are in the hands of unlicensed owners, an expert on gun safety says.
The arsenal of weapons found at Napier gunman Jan Molenaar's house following a 50-hour siege last week sparked concerns about firearms laws in New Zealand.
Molenaar shot and killed Senior Constable Len Snee and wounded two other officers and a civilian when police conducted a drug search at his home last Thursday.
Gun safety advocate Philip Alpers told the New... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Canadian Gun Collector Jailed, Loses Firearm Licence for Life
6 May 2009
Kingston Whig-Standard (Ontario)
A 65-year-old gun collector, whose illegal outing with several of his weapons last month had Ontario Provincial Police scrambling to detour traffic away from a section of Highway 7 near Sharbot Lake, has been released from custody.
Raymond A. Fletcher was sentenced to time served after pleading guilty in Kingston's Ontario Court of Justice to unsafe use of a firearm, unauthorized transportation of a loaded Ruger handgun and illegal possession of a loaded restricted... (GunPolicy.org)
Alberta Collector Loses Guns, Licence After Drunken Domestic Dispute
30 April 2009
Red Deer Advocate (Alberta)
A man involved in a five-hour standoff with the RCMP emergency response team (ERT) pleaded guilty to two charges and received a conditional discharge in Red Deer court Wednesday.
Timothy McKay, 49, of Red Deer, was placed on probation for 18 months after pleading guilty to assault and careless storage of a firearm.
A former hunter, McKay was also ordered to forfeit several guns and ammunition to the Crown and is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms and... (GunPolicy.org)
Sydney Collector Surrenders Military Assault Rifles, Automatic Shotguns
19 April 2009
NSW Police Force, Media release
A collection of prohibited high-powered military-grade weapons, including fully-automatic assault rifles and shotguns, has been handed in to police during the State Government's Firearms Amnesty.
Around 10pm on Wednesday, 15 April, lawyers for a local gun owner attended the Manly Police Station and presented officers with a large, locked metal box.
When detectives from the State Crime Command's Firearms and Organised Crime Squad opened the box, they discovered an... (GunPolicy.org)
Sydney Gun Dealer, Collector Gives Up Illegal Automatic Assault Weapons
19 April 2009
Sydney Morning Herald
An alleged illegal gun dealer charged by police over a hoard of military firearms, including the first AK-47 assault rifle seized in NSW, has used the gun amnesty to surrender more firearms.
A solicitor acting for Allan Driver, 59, of Elanora Heights, stunned Firearms and Organised Crime Squad officers by surrendering six high-powered weapons and ammunition to Manly police on Wednesday.
Police said the weapons were inside a locked metal strongbox and included a 5.56mm... (GunPolicy.org)
Court Upholds 31-gun Seizure from Firearm Collector with Mentally Ill Son
4 March 2009
Daily Review (California)
HAYWARD — When Hayward police seized Ed Barsch's extensive firearms collection three years ago, Barsch sued.
He says his constitutional rights were violated and that he deserves compensation for the collection, which he valued at $33,000.
Named in the lawsuit were former City Attorney Michael O'Toole, police Lt. Bernard Licata, police Capt. Darryl McAllister, and several police officers who entered Barsch's home.
A federal judge tossed out the lawsuit in December... (GunPolicy.org)
US: 'Great Neighbour' Charged with Illegal Possession of Machine Guns
17 February 2009
Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts)
AUBURN — While local police will huddle with the district attorney today to figure out what charges to bring against the owner of a Rochdale Street house where 85 weapons, about 800 pounds of ammunition and two boxes of suspected explosives were confiscated on Thursday, Anthony Simulynas' neighbors said he was a very good man who has lived in the area for years.
"I've known Tony for a long, long, long time," said Douglas Stewart, 77, of 412 Rochdale St., "and he's a... (GunPolicy.org)
Convicted Handgun Collector Bemoans Latest Theft of 80 Legal Firearms
13 February 2009
Toronto Star (Ontario)
Gary Gordaneer collected guns most of his life — but no more.
He was given his first, a .22 repeating rifle, as an 11-year-old boy.
By 62, Gordaneer had accumulated as many as 80 weapons, which he estimates were worth about $500,000.
"Now, they're all gone," says Gordaneer, 65.
Three years ago, thieves broke into Gordaneer's Mississauga apartment.
They busted through the front door and jimmied open three of the four large metal storage lockers.
The suspects made... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Collector Jailed for Selling 30 Handguns, Machine Guns to Criminals
18 December 2008
New Zealand Herald
A gun collector who sold restricted firearms on the black market has placed the community at "grave risk" and created the potential for "long-term tragic consequences", a judge says.
Coromandel collector John Noel Mabey was yesterday sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of selling pistols, military-style semi-automatic firearms, and restricted weapons to unlicensed people.
The 30 guns Mabey admitted selling included Browning and Glock... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Gun Collector Jailed for Selling 30 Firearms to NZ Criminals
17 December 2008
TVNZ One News / NZPA
A Coromandel man who illegally sold off his gun collection has been jailed for 21 months.
In Hamilton District Court, Judge Phillip Connell said the actions of John Mabey had long reaching implications for public safety and posed a grave risk to the community, One News reported.
Mabey was jailed after he sold his gun collection, including military-style weapons, to criminals.
Police have found some of the firearms in the hands of dangerous offenders.
The judge said... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Collector 'Lost' 121 Guns, Armed NZ Gangs for Years to Come
6 December 2008
New Zealand Herald
Guns from a missing Coromandel collection have fallen into the wrong hands and created a black market legacy that will last for decades, say police and a gun control advocate.
One of the guns among Hot Water Beach collector John Mabey's missing pistols, submachine guns and semi-automatic rifles has been identified as the weapon used in a fatal shooting.
Mabey's guns disappeared in July last year, and police say eight of the 10 that have been recovered were found in... (GunPolicy.org)
British Police Arrest Gun Collector, Seize 400 Weapons from His Home
15 October 2008
BBC News
More than 400 shotguns and rifles have been seized from a house in Oxfordshire days after a former firearms dealer had his licence revoked.
Police removed the guns from the property in Headington following a tip-off that the owner had more guns than he was allowed to own.
Officers also had concerns he was not storing the weapons safely and he and was "no longer a fit to hold firearms".
A 63-year-old man has been arrested and released on police bail.
He was held... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed, Avid Florida Gun Collector Shows Off Handgun, Shoots Wife
30 September 2008
St Petersburg Times (Florida)
LUTZ — Sunday evening, Linda Lunn, 41, smoked a cigarette outside her home in the Paradise Lakes nudist resort and shared a good laugh with her stepson's girlfriend.
Inside, Lunn's husband, Richard, 61, had piled his new guns on the kitchen island and was proudly showing off the firearms to his son, Dan, 34.
"We thought it was cute," said Margaret Wilcox, 40, Dan Lunn's girlfriend.
Linda Lunn went inside for a cup of coffee. There was a loud bang.
Pasco deputies... (GunPolicy.org)
Weapons of East Germany's Most Famous Gun Collectors on Auction
2 September 2008
Reuters
BERLIN — A unique collection of hunting rifles and pistols that once belonged to East German leader Erich Honecker and his top deputies will be auctioned off next month, a German auction house said on Tuesday.
A total of 31 weapons, including the pistol that Erich Mielke used in a 1931 shootout with police, are part of an extraordinary collection assembled by Christiane Bernuth, an auctioneer in the eastern town of Erfurt.
Mielke, a dedicated Communist and avid... (GunPolicy.org)
Pretoria Judge Blasts Police, Orders Four Licences for Gun Collector
30 July 2008
Pretoria News
A Pretoria high court acting judge on Tuesday had harsh words for the police and the Firearms Licence Appeal Board for the manner in which they handled the application for firearm licences by an antique firearms collector.
Acting Judge Piet Ebersohn said there was a "lack of competency" by both the police and the Appeal Board in this regard.
Ebersohn severely criticised members of the board for not having sufficient knowledge of firearms.
"None of them have any... (GunPolicy.org)
Even This Californian Gun Collector Finds Gun Nuts Scary
23 July 2008
Daily Breeze (Los Angeles)
Leo and I were talking guns at the Redondo Beach home he shares with his wife, Ginger. At 63, he is well-dressed, nicely spoken and not without a sense of humor.
"Gun nuts scare me, especially the cold-dead-hand types," said the Vietnam veteran/businessman as he handed me the Red Army Mosin-Nagant rifle that set him down the path to owning a wall full of low-cost, knock-down vintage military firepower.
I drove over to meet Leo after he sent me a funny e-mail about... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Machine Gun Collector Admits Selling 30 of 130 'Lost' Firearms
22 July 2008
New Zealand Herald
A man who claimed 130 guns, including automatic rifles and sub-machine guns, had been stolen from his home has pleaded guilty to illegally selling 30 of them.
John Noel Mabey, 43, told police that the guns had been stolen from his Hot Water Beach home in a burglary in July last year.
Police charged Mabey with giving a false statement to police. Only nine of the guns have been found so far.
Mabey will reappear in the Hamilton District Court on September 5.
Waikato... (GunPolicy.org)
Louisiana Sheriff Says 'Fanatic' Gun Collector Caught by Own 'Perversion'
27 June 2008
St. Tammany News (Louisiana)
Sheriff's Office deputies seized $150,000 in guns from a Slidell area gun collector whose "perversion" with weapons led to picture taking of his 1-year-old son, in diapers, clutching an AK-47 machine gun, Sheriff Jack Strain said Thursday.
Fai Yui "Frank" Kwan, 42, 101 Foxcraft Drive, was arrested and charged with several felonies, including two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, when the cache was discovered during a robbery investigation.
The... (GunPolicy.org)
Louisiana Weapon Collector Faces 8 Charges After Reporting Gun 'Theft'
26 June 2008
New Orleans Times-Picayune (Louisiana)
St. Tammany Parish deputies seized an arsenal from a Slidell-area home last week that included a military-grade machine gun and sniper rifle, submachine guns, assault rifles likely converted to automatic fire and dozens of other weapons including sawed-off shotguns.
The seizure, which also included manuals on converting weapons to automatic fire, computers, a flak jacket and tactical webbing and more than half a million rounds of ammunition, came after the guns' owner... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed US Gun Collector Aimed At Neighbours, Machine Guns Seized
25 June 2008
WHNS - TV News (South Carolina)
GREER, South Carolina — Police said they found an arsenal of weapons inside a Greer man's home after he pointed a gun at his neighbors.
Police arrested William Delamar after they received a call about him pointing a .45 caliber handgun at his neighbors because they blocked his driveway.
Police said when they went inside Delamar's home they found several weapons including M-16s and a .50 caliber gun, all of which were military style weapons.
Delamar told police he... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Canadian Gun Collector Walks on 50 Trafficking Charges
20 June 2008
Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba)
A man accused of letting two dozen high-powered guns fall into the wrong hands has walked free on a legal technicality, the Free Press has learned.
Terry Gale was arrested in 2002 following a raid on his Fort Rouge home. It was the largest weapons investigation in Manitoba history.
Gale's case finally made it to court this month — but the case abruptly collapsed earlier this week when a judge ruled Winnipeg police breached his rights and conducted an illegal search... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Criminals Easily Steal Shotguns from Legal Owners - Police
28 May 2008
Winnipeg Free Press (Manitoba)
The shotgun seems to be the firearm of choice for Winnipeg criminals, judging by the sheer number of them police pull off the street.
According to Det. Rob Duttchen, a Winnipeg police officer who's a member of the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST), the shotgun's status as a non-restricted weapon means they are easy to get, and therefore widely used in crime.
"That's the easiest firearm to obtain lawfully. Ergo, it's the largest percentage of guns... (GunPolicy.org)
Avid Australian Gun Collector, Explosives Enthusiast Dies in Blast
25 May 2008
Sunday Telegraph (Sydney)
A prominent Sydney scientist killed in a mysterious explosion at his semi-rural property was an avid gun collector and champion shooter.
Dr Lionel Lowe, 67, was sitting on a ride-on mower at the rear of his Mitchell Rd, Dural property at the time of the blast at 4.30pm last Monday.
Neighbours have told how their homes "shook" from the force of the explosion. "There was one loud explosion and the house shook," one neighbour, who asked not to be identified, said.
"I... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Canadian Gun Collector Fired Shots in House, Lost 500 Firearms
15 May 2008
Canadian Press
SUDBURY, Ontario — A 76-year-old Sudbury, Ont., man has agreed to give up his cache of weapons and pay a $1,000 fine on three firearms-related charges.
When police entered Georgio Bassetti's apartment on Feb. 29, in they found rooms full of hundreds of weapons, ammunition and six gunshot holes in the ceiling.
It took police days to remove all of the weapons found inside the apartment.
Assistant Crown attorney Karen Lische told court Wednesday that police got a call... (GunPolicy.org)
Millionaire Chicago 'Collector' Had 80 Firearms, Machine Guns, No Licence
10 May 2008
Chicago Sun-Times
Benjamin Stevens kept a .50-caliber machine gun — along with more than 80 other firearms and 50,000 rounds of ammunition — in his Lake Forest mansion because he collects historic weaponry, his attorney said Friday.
The millionaire businessman, who was arrested a day earlier when police raided his north suburban home, had acquired all the firearms legally and kept most in his basement, defense attorney Douglas Zeit said as Stevens made his first court... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Gun Lobby Martyr Out on Bail, Vows to Continue Years of Protest
15 April 2008
Kenora Daily Miner and News (Ontario)
After 25 days behind bars, Bruce Montague was granted bail and released from the Kenora District Jail Friday night.
After the Crown required further affidavit material at his first bail hearing in Toronto in late March, the hearing was adjourned to April 11, leaving Montague in custody for an additional 15 days before his release last week.
"Jail is not a nice place to be," Montague said. "The effect it had on me, I thought I was a little more prepared after being... (GunPolicy.org)
Another Licensed Canadian Gun Collector's Pistol Turns Up in Drug Crime
13 April 2008
London Free Press (Ontario)
From a German soldier's hands on a Second World War battlefield, to the hands of a Strathroy collector, to a criminal's grip and, finally, into a London police storage vault.
The odyssey of one Polish-made Radom pistol, scooped up in a police raid in London, has spanned borders, decades — and both sides of the law.
It's one of dozens of guns London police have seized in a crackdown on illegal firearms, and its story is not unlike that of many handguns winding up... (GunPolicy.org)
84yr-old Gun Collector, Doctor, Felon Had 500 Guns in New Jersey Home
9 April 2008
Record (New Jersey)
An 84-year-old man who kept nearly 500 guns, 800 pounds of gunpowder and 75,000 rounds of ammunition at his Ridgefield home pleaded guilty Tuesday to creating a community hazard.
Sherwin Raymond had rejected plea offers since his arrest in 2005 and insisted that his stash of rifles and pistols was nothing more than that of a gun enthusiast.
On Tuesday, however, after jurors were picked for his trial in state Superior Court in Hackensack, Raymond took a plea deal that... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Collector Had 70 Illegal Firearms, Handguns, Submachine Gun
9 April 2008
Regina Leader-Post (Saskatchewan)
REGINA — There wasn't any sinister intention behind a fearsome arsenal of guns and ammunition found inside a south Regina home two years ago, a Regina court heard on Wednesday.
Instead, the defence told court that Murray Dalrymple Hogg's impressive and varied collection of firearms was a kind of savings plan, an investment for a man of modest means.
"This is his Registered Retirement Savings Plan, so to speak," lawyer Mervin Ozirny said, appearing for Hogg at Regina... (GunPolicy.org)
German Collector Had So Many Guns He Had to Move Out, Live at an Inn
3 April 2008
Cape Times (Cape Town)
BERLIN — A German man was such an avid collector of weapons and other paraphernalia that he ran out of space at home and had to sleep in a hotel, neighbours said following the 71-year-old's death.
Executors found an arsenal of weaponry and assorted goods at the man's two-storey home in the western city of Aachen.
"There were 71 guns, one for each year of his life," said police spokesperson Paul Kemen. "He also had 41 cases of ammunition and five walking sticks... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Gun Collector Loses 35 Illegal Weapons to New Jersey Police
26 March 2008
Record (New Jersey)
RUTHERFORD — Police seized a cache of 35 weapons on Tuesday, including illegally modified assault rifles and machine guns from the Hastings Avenue apartment of a gun collector, authorities said.
The State Police Street Gang Unit North and borough detectives found an armory of loaded guns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition in the apartment of Joseph Leone, 57.
"Laying around in the closet, out in the open, in the dresser drawer … they were all over the place," State... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed California Gun Collector Arrested Again for Drugs, Machine Guns
9 March 2008
Associated Press
TORRANCE, California — A Torrance man arrested last month for having a cache of weapons in his home has been booked after a second raid this week.
Russell Josiah Powell was arrested at his home Wednesday night when police allegedly found drugs, newly purchased illegal ammunition and parts that enable guns to fire as automatic weapons.
Police Officer Dave Crespin says the 35-year-old Powell was booked for investigation of possession of a controlled substance,... (GunPolicy.org)
NY Police Find 'Stunning Cache' of Guns at Home of Mentally Ill Collector
4 February 2008
Newsday (New York)
A 60-year-old East Meadow man called Nassau police and told them he was under attack. He reported hearing gunshot blasts all around, and said there were bodies on the floor.
But the siege was taking place only inside David Martin's head, authorities said.
As responding officers came rushing into his Rita Avenue home early Saturday, they realized Martin was suffering from some sort of psychiatric condition.
They began to look around his single-story home and uncovered... (GunPolicy.org)
Kentucky Gun Dealer, Wife, Gun Historian All Acquitted in $1.5m Fraud Trial
23 January 2008
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — A jury rejected all felony charges brought against an Alabama couple accused of selling a slew of famous firearms to a millionaire collector at fraudulent prices.
Many of the guns involved have historical significance: Teddy Roosevelt's "Big Stick," Gen. George Custer's Colt six-shooters and a Winchester rifle carried by Buffalo Bill.
Federal prosecutors accused Michael K. Salisbury of acquiring the guns, then greatly inflating the sale price... (GunPolicy.org)
US Gun Owner's U-Haul Unit Arms Criminals with 50 Guns, 2,000 Rounds
8 January 2008
Lodi News-Sentinel (California)
When Kenneth Warren moved to San Joaquin County to take care of his elderly parents, he wanted to make sure his gun collection was safe.
He kept about 50 guns and as much as 2,000 rounds of ammunition in a double-walled, fireproof safe that, when empty, weighed 1,300 pounds. He moved it into a climate-controlled metal and concrete storage unit at U-Haul in Lodi. And he even got a second-floor storage unit for added security.
But on Dec. 31, thieves managed to get into... (GunPolicy.org)
Wild West Gun Buyer Avoids Jail for Illegally Importing Revolver to England
21 December 2007
BBC News
A Wild West fan from Devon escaped being sent to jail for importing firearms after being told by a judge his case was "extraordinary".
Gun-collector Jeremy Couchman faced a minimum five-year sentence after being convicted of possessing a prohibited Smith & Wesson revolver.
The 53-year old bus driver from Torquay was also found guilty of attempting to purchase ammunition.
The judge at Plymouth Crown Court gave Couchman a one-year suspended sentence.
He also... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Gun Collector Ran Black Market Gun Trade, Say NZ Police
19 December 2007
TVNZ News
A Coromandel gun collector is to stand trial for allegedly running a black market gun operation.
John Mabey claimed more than 120 weapons were stolen from his Coromandel home. He says he was burgled in July and burglars took 113 pistols, a couple of semi-automatic rifles and half a dozen machine guns.
But police investigating the break-in suspected a scam.
In a transcript of a police interview, a detective tells Mabey that a witness claims he facilitated the sale of... (GunPolicy.org)
Another Glock Pistol Turns Up from NZ Firearm Collector's 121 'Stolen' Guns
4 December 2007
New Zealand Herald / NZPA
Police say they have recovered another pistol from a large collection of guns allegedly sold by a Coromandel collector on the black market.
The Glock automatic pistol was found in a bag by a man who stopped his car on State Highway 25, near Thames on Friday. A sawn-off shotgun was found nearby.
"Operation Might" head Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Nicholls said the pistol was one of 121 restricted weapons police allege collector John Noel Mabey sold on the black... (GunPolicy.org)
Kentucky Gun Collectors, Dealers on Trial in $1.75m Firearm Fraud Case
2 December 2007
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — The evidence will look like a prop list from a John Wayne movie when three antique gun enthusiasts go on trial Monday on charges of bilking a millionaire collector.
Buffalo Bill's Winchester rifle. A pair of Colt six-shooters owned by Gen. George Custer. Geronimo's bow and arrows.
The collector, Owsley Brown Frazier, a well-known Louisville philanthropist, spent millions acquiring the antique arms and displaying in a downtown museum that he... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Gun Collector in Court to Protest Gun Control Laws, Cites Rwanda
30 November 2007
Kenora Daily Miner and News (Ontario)
The latest chapter in Bruce Montague's trial on nearly 50 weapons-related offences saw the defence call his wife, Donna, to the witness box to testify.
When Bruce Montague was arrested at a Dryden gun show in 2004, Donna settled into a day of baking at home. She got a call that her husband had been arrested and rushed out of the house in a panic — forgetting to unload and store two rifles kept in the house for predator control.
"I guess them being loaded was my... (GunPolicy.org)
Gun Collector, Lobbyist Committed Offences to Test Canadian Firearm Law
29 November 2007
Kenora Daily Miner and News (Ontario)
For the third consecutive day Bruce Montague was in the witness box in a Kenora Superior courtroom defending himself against nearly 50 firearms related offences.
His lawyer, Doug Christie, played a clip of a documentary featuring Montague protesting the Firearms Act on Parliament Hill the day it was enacted in 2003. He and a group of others protested Bill C-38 by burning registration certificates and placing a wooden plaque on the
doors of the parliament buildings,... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Gun Collector Had Loaded Weapons 'In Case War Comes Home'
27 November 2007
Kenora Daily Miner and News (Ontario)
As the defence began its arguments Monday, Bruce Montague took the stand to defend himself against nearly 50 firearms-related offences in a Kenora Superior courtroom.
Assistant Crown attorney Peter Keen wrapped up his case in the morning, after conceding to have six of the offences faced by Montague thrown out.
Montague's attorney Doug Christie told the jury he would present evidence that every firearm Montague owned was purchased legally through the now defunct... (GunPolicy.org)
USA: 'Responsible Gun Collector' Gets 4yrs Jail for 60 Illegal Machine Guns
27 November 2007
Associated Press
MADISON, Wisconsin — A former Navy supply officer who illegally possessed dozens of machine guns was sentenced Tuesday to three years and 10 months in prison.
David Carmel told the judge he was a harmless weapons collector, but federal prosecutor Laura Przybylinski Finn said he had thought he was above the law.
"He decided it was OK for him to have an arsenal on his property," she said. "He had weapons he wasn't supposed to have. He knew it."
Carmel, 32, pleaded... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Navy Officer, Licensed Collector 'Conspired to Sell' Stolen Navy Guns
4 November 2007
Sunday Star-Times (New Zealand)
A senior Navy officer has been charged with conspiring to sell two military style semi-automatic rifles to undercover police.
The man's home was raided in December as part of a major police operation which involved the seizure of at least 800 weapons from collectors and dealers in the Waikato and Auckland.
More than 140 items were seized from the man's house.
Most were firearms and ammunition he was licensed to keep as a collector.
Two Glock handguns, four Ruger... (GunPolicy.org)
Arrested British Bus Driver Had 'Unhealthy Obsession with Guns' - Police
30 October 2007
Herald Express (South Devon)
When police raided the Torquay home of a bus driver they found an arsenal of illegal weapons, some hanging on the wall and others hidden from view a court has heard.
At Exeter Crown Court the prosecution alleged that 53 year old Jeremy Couchman was a man with an 'unhealthy obsession with guns', and not the collector as he claimed.
Prosecutor Jonathan Barnes said among the weapons seized in the police raid were prohibited guns and others for which Couchman did not have... (GunPolicy.org)
Murdered Gun Collector's Weapons Auctioned in Kentucky: One Man's Gain
22 October 2007
Cincinnati Post (Ohio)
Steve Young spent the past two years trying to track down guns he pawned at a local Quick Cash when he needed extra money to care for his family.
One of those guns, a Colt .44 that he valued at about $7,000, he'd had since age 17.
"At the time it helped, but I really regretted getting rid of them," said Young, 52, of Florence, Ky.
Saturday was his lucky day.
The guns turned up among the 146 weapons auctioned by the estate of Alexandria businessman Bob Bosley, who... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Police Raids on Gun Collectors Throw Spotlight on Troubled Fraternity
20 October 2007
Waikato Times
A Hamilton gun enthusiast strokes the handle of his Smith and Wesson 44 calibre pistol. The gun looks just like something out of an old cowboy film and dates to the pre-1900 American wild west days. How many hands have held this gun over all those years? Images of cowboys — maybe even gunfighters — come to mind. He passes it to the Waikato Times reporter to hold before carefully placing it back in its sturdy lockup — an ex-bank safe.
The same day of the Times... (GunPolicy.org)
Police Seize Imitation Guns 'Susceptible to Conversion' from UK Collector
19 October 2007
This is Hertfordshire / Watford Observer
Armed police swooped on the flat of a 54-year-old replica pistol collector in Battersea.
They seized 17 replica guns but police admit the man posed no threat to the community.
Wandsworth crime squad Inspector Matt Phelps said police had raided the flat about 10.20am on October 10 after a tip-off from the public.
"This action was taken to pro-actively reduce the threat of firearm incidents in the borough and to prevent any possible tragic consequences should they have... (GunPolicy.org)
116 Handguns, Machine Guns Still Missing in 'Theft' from Licensed Collector
18 October 2007
New Zealand Herald / NZPA
Most of the large arsenal of weapons missing from a Coromandel gun collector's safe have still not been found.
Police said yesterday no one offered to return the guns under an amnesty that would have allowed them to do so without being charged.
They believe the guns are still in the hands of criminals.
Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Nicholls of Hamilton said it was not known if any of the weapons recovered during police raids on apparent terror training camps this... (GunPolicy.org)
Handgun Seized in NZ Drug Bust May Be One of 121 Guns Lost by Collector
9 October 2007
Waikato Times (Hamilton)
A gun found on a man arrested at a Hamilton motel could be linked to a collection from a Hot Water Beach property.
The man, 29, was arrested at an Ulster St motel by the Armed Offender Squad on Sunday morning. Police said they found an automatic pistol, ammunition, methamphetamine and several syringes at the motel.
The man appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. Drugs... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed NZ Gun Collector Denies Lying to Police in 'Theft' of 121 Firearms
8 October 2007
New Zealand Herald
Concerns about guns being sold on the black market ending up in criminal hands have been reinforced after the armed offenders squad found an automatic pistol, ammunition and methamphetamine in a motel unit.
Police arrested a 29 year-old man at the Hamilton Hotel at about 1.30am this morning.
The man is a known associate of a fugitive arrested last month in Auckland who was found with two pistols — a Glock and a Beretta.
Hamilton police spokesman Andrew McAlley said... (GunPolicy.org)
Wife Gets 20yrs for Shooting Kentucky Gun Collector: Auction Opportunity
6 October 2007
Kentucky Post
The Glock 9mm that Bob Bosley regularly carried with him is not among the 144 pricey guns being auctioned off this month from the slain Alexandria businessman's weapon collection.
That garden-variety sidearm ended up being the one gun that cost Bosley the most when his wife, Amy, used it to kill him as he slept in May 2005.
Bosley's collection of 47 handguns, 97 rifles and two bows — estimated to be worth at least $50,000 — will be auctioned Oct. 20 to raise money... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Police Raids on Licensed Gun Collectors Discover 1 in 5 Guns 'Illegal'
5 October 2007
New Zealand Herald
As police try to track up to 120 high-powered, military style weapons which vanished from a Coromandel property, they are reluctantly preparing to give back 200 similar firearms and 600,000 rounds of ammunition to their owner.
This is amid increasing concerns among Waikato police about the number of illegal weapons on the black market, known to be falling into the hands of criminals and gangsters.
Police seized about 230 military-style weapons from Hamilton firearms... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed NZ Gun Collector 'Illegally Sold' 121 Pistols, Machine Guns to Crims
2 October 2007
New Zealand Press Association
A Coromandel gun collector was remanded on bail after appearing in court today on charges of possessing and supplying weapons and making a false complaint.
John Noel Mabey, 43, told police last month that over 100 weapons, including pistols, machine guns and an inoperable rocket launcher, were stolen from his Hot Water Beach home in July.
Mabey's collectors licence was revoked in August.
Police investigated and arrested him on September 13 on firearms charges and... (GunPolicy.org)
No Trigger Happy Gun Culture in Malta, But 'Serious Anomalies' in Gun Law
1 October 2007
Times (Malta), Editorial
For some odd reason, current gun licensing laws in Malta have given rise to serious anomalies.
On one hand, prospective hunters have to wait months to get called for a test to permit them to procure their guns. On the other hand, if one wants to buy a firearm that is not going to be used for hunting, all one has to do is join a target shooting club. It takes about a month to get registered. This involves basic training on how to handle a weapon, knowledge of the... (GunPolicy.org)
'Obsessed' Nevada Collector Left 3,800 Guns, 250,000 Rounds of Ammo
21 September 2007
Las Vegas Sun / Scripps News Service
It's Christmas Day, Jerry Darnell is about to die and he's at Wal-Mart buying rifles. Four of them.
Darnell's cousin finds these firearms in early January, when he travels to Pahrump, Nev., to make the after-death arrangements. Darnell had died of natural causes at 66.
His cousin finds the new rifles unwrapped, price tags affixed, packed in with the rest of the collection. A gun hoarder's last grasp, the end of the Darnell Weaponry Estate.
It's an arsenal, really,... (GunPolicy.org)
Arizona Gun Shows Provide Assault Weapons to Terrorists, Criminals et al
16 September 2007
Arizona Republic, Column
On the surface, it seems like Arizonans are more troubled by undocumented honor students attending our universities than by undocumented gangsters purchasing our assault weapons.
Below the surface … It seems the about same.
Consider the news that has generated the most recent interest from regular folks, journalists, talk-show hosts and politicians.
One story that drew a lot of attention involved undocumented university students and how Arizona State University... (GunPolicy.org)
US Family Blown Apart by Single Shot: Kids Get Guns With 'Stunning Ease'
13 September 2007
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
What Jordan remembers from the night he killed his stepbrother is Michael sitting on the floor in the basement bedroom they had shared since childhood, his back against the futon, reaching for the gun in Jordan's hand. Or maybe Mikey was just reaching forward to stand up — Jordan isn't sure. He knows, though, that he was wearing football gloves, and that the gun went off.
"At first, I thought he was playing," said the boy, 16, who stood there for a moment, staring as... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Gun Collector Charged Over 'Theft' of 121 Handguns, Submachine Guns
13 September 2007
News City / NewsTalkZB
A Coromandel Peninsula gun collector who reported more than 120 guns had been stolen from his home near Hot Water Beach has been charged with making a false statement to police.
The weapons include 113 pistols, two military style semi-automatic rifles and six submachine guns.
The collector has been arrested, and is also facing firearms charges, after what police describe as extensive enquiries with the assistance of forensic scientists and a firearms... (GunPolicy.org)
Japanese Police Charge Dead Gun Collector Over Submachine Gun, Pistol
5 September 2007
Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan)
Police will file papers Wednesday with prosecutors against a deceased man from whose house in Yokohama they seized a submachine gun, a pistol and 179 rounds of ammunition in June.
The man, 52, died of an unnamed disease at his home in Isogo Ward, on May 28, and his sister, 55, and nephew, 26, found a 9mm automatic pistol and 159 rounds of 9mm ammunition inside a desk in a study on the first floor on June 10.
The police searched the house on June 14 after being... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed NZ Gun Collector, Porn Baron's Trial Features Pistols, Dead Sheep
3 September 2007
Dominion Post (Wellington)
Porn baron and Auckland mayoral candidate Steve Crow is to go to trial on firearms charges, after a judge refused to guarantee he would be let off without a conviction.
The 50-year-old adult entertainment businessman allegedly fired two pistols while visiting a farm at Whenuapai, West Auckland, in August last year.
He was arrested three days before last year's Boobs on Bikes parade through Auckland City to promote his upcoming Erotica show.
"I did some target... (GunPolicy.org)
California Collector Stashed 1,500 Guns 'For Cuban Invasion,' Gets 5 Years
27 August 2007
New York Times / AP
RIVERSIDE, California — A Cuban exile who claimed that he stashed more than 1,500 guns and other weapons in his home as part of a plan to overthrow Fidel Castro was sentenced Monday to more than five years in federal prison.
Robert Ferro, 64, of Upland, pleaded guilty to a single count of weapons possession earlier this year. He allegedly claimed that he was storing the weapons with the knowledge of Alpha 66, a Florida-based paramilitary group that for decades has... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Ottawa Gun Collector Kept Illegal Assault Weapons - Police
25 August 2007
Ottawa Sun (Ontario)
A 48-year-old Ottawa man facing a slew of weapons-related charges after police seized a grenade launcher, AK-47, UZI and 27 other firearms from a west-end home made a brief court appearance yesterday.
With wild hair and a nervous but friendly smile, Siva Yogi Shanmugadhasan, 48, glanced around the courtroom and spoke low and meekly after the Justice of the Peace asked him who he was.
Dishevelled Looks
Dressed in a pink and grey striped T-shirt and blue jeans the... (GunPolicy.org)
Ottawa Police Seize 30 Guns, AK47, 30,000 Rounds from 'Gun Admirer'
24 August 2007
Ottawa Citizen (Ontario)
Relatives of a man accused of possessing 30 firearms and stockpiling more than 30,000 rounds of ammunition in his Ottawa home said Friday he is nothing more than an "avid collector" who posed no risk to public safety.
"He has an interest in firearms and weaponry and war," said Oz Shanmugadhasan, whose father, Siva Yogi Shanmugadhasan, is now facing four firearms-related charges after police seized the firearms and ammunition from Mr. Shanmugadhasan's Woodroffe Avenue... (GunPolicy.org)
Australian Doctor Hid an 'Arsenal' of Illegal Assault Weapons, Machine Gun
13 July 2007
Courier-Mail (Brisbane), Opinion
The Queensland courts website includes a scarcely used sub-section called "sentencing remarks" in which judges record wise things they think might be of particular significance or public interest.
One who thinks her remarks are worthy of recording is north Queensland judge Sarah Bradley, who recently presided over the trial of Dr John Di Palma, who she let walk away with a two-year suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to owning a small arsenal.
Bradley spelled... (GunPolicy.org)
Jailed UK Collector Finally Cleared Over 'Perfectly Legal' 900-gun Arsenal
11 July 2007
Bromley Times (London)
Today a gun dealer who proved his innocence slams a police investigation that left him to suffer an agonising ten-month wait in custody in two of London's toughest jails.
Michael Shepherd, 56, faced 32 years in prison after being arrested in September last year following an 18-month operation by the Met police's anti-gun crime Trident squad.
The raid on his house opposite a primary school in Dartford uncovered a haul of 900 weapons and about 4,000 rounds of... (GunPolicy.org)
Queensland Collector Had 50 Illegal Firearms, Submachine Guns in Bunker
10 July 2007
Courier-Mail (Brisbane)
When police raided the luxury property of a north Queensland doctor they found a huge cache of banned military-style weapons and ammunition hidden in a purpose-built underground bunker.
Some initially feared it was the "sinister" stockpile of some militia group or blackmarket international arms dealer.
But it simply proved to be the private stash of highly respected Innisfail GP and avid gun collector John Di Palma.
Yesterday, Di Palma, 54, walked free from court... (GunPolicy.org)
Melbourne Shooting Prompts Calls for Illegal Gun Crackdown in Australia
4 July 2007
ABC News (Australia) / 7.30 Report, Transcript
ALI MOORE: Last month, Melbourne's CBD came to a chilling standstill when a triple shooting claimed the life of a father of three and injured two others. The violent act has ignited calls by the anti-gun lobby to push for tougher laws to deal with handguns. While police have confirmed a handgun was used, they won't give details of the brand or whether it had a serial number. But that hasn't stopped a growing debate over the illegal gun trade in Australia and whether... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed UK Gun Dealer, Collector Cleared of Banned 'Antique' Gun Sales
29 June 2007
BBC News
A dealer in antique guns has been cleared of supplying illegal weapons to undercover police officers.
Michael Shepherd, 56, was found not guilty at the Old Bailey of 13 charges involving vintage guns advertised on the internet.
The Elvis fanatic and former carpenter was a registered gun dealer and sold his goods online.
He was arrested when police raided his home in Dartford, Kent, in September 2006, where they found about 900 guns.
Gun expert
Mr Shepherd,... (GunPolicy.org)
Legal Loophole Exempts UK Gun Collector's 900-weapon 'Arsenal of Murder'
29 June 2007
BBC News
A gun dealer specialising in antique firearms has been acquitted of selling weapons which the prosecution had claimed could have ended up in the hands of gangsters.
The trial highlighted a "grey area" in the 1968 Firearms Act.
On 13 September 2006, amid a great deal of media fanfare, police officers swooped on a house in Dartford, Kent, and claimed to have busted a huge gun-smuggling racket.
The Daily Star used the banner headline "The Arsenal of Murder" while... (GunPolicy.org)
NZ Gun Collector Sues Police to Return His Licence, 700 Guns 'And My Life'
21 June 2007
TVNZ News
An Auckland gun collector is taking police to court for suspending his firearms licence and seizing 700 registered guns.
Police say the armoury was taken after bugged phone conversations involving Waikato gang houses.
But Martin Bath insists he has no gang connections and the seizure is hurting his business.
If he had seen it in the movies he wouldn't believe it. A few rubber stunt props are all that's left of Bath's million dollar gun collection.
Six months ago... (GunPolicy.org)
Canadian Gun Lobby Martyr Arrested Over Hidden Gun Room, Illegal Guns
27 October 2004
Dryden Observer (Ontario)
Dryden OPP announced last week that as part of an ongoing investigation, local gunsmith Bruce Montague has been charged with further offences relating to unlawful possession of firearms and explosives.
Montague, age 45, was initially charged with six criminal offences following the execution of a search warrant at his residence on Sept. 11 and 12. He now faces 23 additional criminal charges related to the investigation.
These charges include: six counts of possessing... (GunPolicy.org)
Licensed Winnipeg Collector Stored 400 Guns in Home, Lost Some to Crims
20 November 2002
newwinnipeg.com
Police say they fear more guns from a Fort Rouge home may be loose on the streets, after a large cache of weapons were found.
While searching for escapee Derik Joel Zarichanski, Police pulled over a car last Tuesday and found a 9-mm sub-machine gun with the occupants. Police checked the gun and found it to be registered to a Terry Gale.
It wasn't long before Winnipeg police and the National Weapons Enforcement Support Team (NWEST) raided Gale's Dudley Avenue home.... (GunPolicy.org)
Italian Man Kills Seven, Shoots Himself
15 October 2002
Reuters
CHIERI, Italy — In the latest killings involving families or children to shock Italy, a man went on a rampage Tuesday, shooting dead seven people with three guns before killing himself.
It was the third episode of domestic violence in Italy in less than 24 hours, leaving a total of 12 dead and two critically injured.
The morning killing spree took place in the tranquil, well-to-do community of Chieri, in hill country outside the northeastern industrial city of... (GunPolicy.org)
Gangs Targeting Firearm Collectors-MP
28 April 2000
Press (Christchurch)
Criminal gangs were targeting licensed firearms collectors in the Wellington region, New Zealand First's law and order spokesman Ron Mark says.
Up to 200 handguns had been stolen this year and he was "concerned that gang members are getting access to information about licensed gun collections that should only be available to the police"
Mr Mark said the handguns being stolen were those collected by licensed owners or those stored in strong-rooms by approved pistol... (GunPolicy.org)