Even a Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day - weapons cache seized in Los Angeles

[MTT TL]

So the media got one right.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/550-guns-s...ry?id=55994959


http://www.newsweek.com/la-police-se...ns-home-983512

Police in Los Angeles have seized more than 550 firearms from two homes following a tip-off that a convicted felon was storing an arsenal.

A total of 553 weapons were recovered and one suspect arrested following the joint operation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Department of Justice.

That is enough weapons to nearly equip a battalion. About the size of small Revolutionary era Armory. I do see a ton of AR uppers and not many lowers so I think the count is suspect but it is still a respectable amount of guns.

[TXAZ]

Looks like lots of 94' and 98' Mausers and 'other historical' relics out there.
But a fair number of other weapons most of us might be happy to have.

I believe this is the first legitimate "arsenal" that the news media has reported on. (vs the 2 rifles and a pistol in Chicago last year)

Here's high def picture:

[Scorch]

I see a lot of Mausers, Mosins, various milsurps and a variety of cheap old shotguns, along with a few handguns. I would not consider something like this a threat, but he is a convicted felon after all. I mean, he spent 6 months in prison.

Good 6 o'clock news fodder, but nothing to really worry about. Unless you happen to be the State of California.

[MTT TL]

I see a lot of Mausers, Mosins, various milsurps and a variety of cheap old shotguns, along with a few handguns. I would not consider something like this a threat, but he is a convicted felon after all.

I'd say that one guy with 550 guns is not a huge threat. 550 people with those guns, ammo and bad intentions would rapidly become something that the police would not be able to handle, even the huge LA Police force.

[rickyrick]

A person can only effectively use one gun at a time. I don’t see any additional harm in having an “arsenal”. Especially a bunch of orphan uppers, lol; I did notice they managed to put the scariest looking parts of the collection in the foreground of the photo.

I spotted a Mini14 in the bunch, so the guy didn’t need all those others anyway. :P

[DaleA]

A person can only effectively use one gun at a time.

This fact seems to get lost in the frenzied anti-gun hysteria usually present in stories like these. It constantly amazes me how this irrationality CONTINUELY makes an appearance in these stories.

I think it's similar to: "The man owns 27 cars! That means he could drive from Los Angels to New York in like an hour!!!"

[ThomasT]

Why do some of those guns look like they are bent?

[MoArk Willy]

The rifles look bent because of the camera lens used. Wide angle lenses tend to bend things to fit them in the frame.
Take a look at the beams above and especially the fan blades.

[zxcvbob]

What felony was he convicted of in the first place?

[ThomasT]

The rifles look bent because of the camera lens used. Wide angle lenses tend to bend things to fit them in the frame.
Take a look at the beams above and especially the fan blades.

I get that about the lenses. But in the first row look at rifles #5 and #9. They look bent while the others next to them do not. As for the fan blades I have seen dozens of fan blades drooped like that from being hung outside.

I am an insurance adjuster and see a lot of patios and porches with ceiling fans and they all droop to some extent from the basicly paper blades absorbing the moisture from the outside air. Thats not from the lens. Hanging a ceiling fan outside is a bad idea unless it has metal blades.

Maybe it is just the camera but it still looks strange.

[bamaranger]

Apparently the guy was recently convicted. I'm thinking he likely owned those firearms prior the conviction. Once convicted, he did not dispose or separate himself from them. I'm also thinking that other parties involved in his conviction were aware of that fact and turned him in.

Who knows, he might have run a shop.

None of which absolves him of any guilt.

[pack_rat]

The camera didn't do it. This time.
A close zoom shows the "bent gun's"
muzzles are propped on the stocks
of the next row.

There are some choice items there.

Picture needs one of those gun mag
numbered silhouette ID guides.

p_r

[ThomasT]

The camera didn't do it. This time.
A close zoom shows the "bent gun's"
muzzles are propped on the stocks
of the next row.

Pack Rat I think you are 100% correct. And yes a guide on what guns they are. I named a few of them and spotted that P-38. at least the guy had good taste. But bad judgment. Who knows, maybe he was trying to sell them and get rid of them. Anyway, problem solved.

[bamaranger]

I'm surprised too by the number of gun boxes for the handguns,and what appears to be the good condition of most of the guns. I'd think that stolen guns seldom come with boxes.......unless it was a retail/stockroom theft.

The rest of the investigation should be interesting.

[Jim Watson]

Lots of expensive manhole covers.
A chronically broke jurisdiction could realize a profit if they could resist left liberal posturing.

[bamaranger]

Man, that makes we wince just thinking about it. Looks like a 1917 S&W or a Colt in the lower right.....darn shame.

[Metal god]

Apparently the guy was recently convicted. I'm thinking he likely owned those firearms prior the conviction. Once convicted, he did not dispose or separate himself from them. I'm also thinking that other parties involved in his conviction were aware of that fact and turned him in.

CA law would seem to make his ability to transfer his weapons to someone else nearly impossible . 535 guns at $35 each transfer fee is close to $19,000 . Even if the guy wanted to comply , financially he likely couldn't . In this/that type of case can they force you to give up your property with out due compensation ? If he owned them prior to his conviction , I'd hope there was a clause in the law that allows a person a reasonable amount of time to legally transfer the rifles over or allow for auction or something ????

[MTT TL]

Did anyone ever find out what he was convicted of?

[ROCK6]

Did anyone ever find out what he was convicted of?

They said it was a felony, but it couldn't have been too serious if they already let the guy out on bail. I would like to see a follow up to this story. I'm not saying the guy wasn't guilty (he was convicted already), but most "stolen" guns typically aren't Mosin-Nagants which many of those rifles look like surplus guns. Plus, most of the handguns do like they still have their boxes. I would almost bet he was a gun dealer and much of his inventory was stashed at his house when he was busted on some white-collar felony charge.

Either way, it's a tragedy that all those firearms will likely get melted down and scrapped. A police department could make some serious cash auctioning them off to "legal" gun owners/gun shops.

ROCK6

[Spats McGee]

Even a blind hog finds a truffle once in a while . . . . . I've got to give the media this one. I think that warrants the term "arsenal," unlike so many other stories we've seen.

[DaleA]

Well this picture came up in a panel discussion hosted by Bill Maher with NRA spokesperson Colion Noir on the panel at about the 7:30 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l_qHZEfyTQ

The panel (and audience) gasp with alarm when the picture is shown.

"I'm worried about a person like that [the guy with the 'arsenal'] having the ability to easily kill lots of people," says a panel member.
"He only has two hands," says Colion Noir.
"What does that mean, 'He only has two hands'? People are getting slaughtered by one person, children are being slaughtered by one children (sic)."

Colion Noir's point seemed to be totally lost on the panel, and audience, that the guy couldn't use ALL THOSE GUNS AT THE SAME TIME. And that a guy with just ONE gun could probably do as much damage as a guy with 500 guns.

Colion Noir was calm, cool and collected during the panel which, IMhO, was very anti-gun.

[JohnKSa]

Colion Noir's point seemed to be totally lost on the panel, and audience, that the guy couldn't use ALL THOSE GUNS AT THE SAME TIME. And that a guy with just ONE gun could probably do as much damage as a guy with 500 guns.

In Broken Arrow, one of the characters makes the point that the person who wants a lot of nuclear weapons is actually not as scary as the person who says they only want one.

The quote isn't quite on target, but the general principle applies. There's really very little point to worrying about a person who wants to own 500 firearms. Having 500 doesn't really make a person any more dangerous than the person who has 2 or 3.

[zxcvbob]

Either way, it's a tragedy that all those firearms will likely get melted down and scrapped. A police department could make some serious cash auctioning them off to "legal" gun owners/gun shops.

Some of is think that, while melting the guns down is a tragedy, the police profiting in any way from a gun grab is a much greater tragedy. I just hate that some of the really good guns will probably be stolen by police officers rather than scrapped. Burn 'em all.

I still wonder what felony he was convicted of, that he was let out so easily (I heard on another board that he might have used the wrong gendered pronoun for somebody; that's a felony in CA) and if he had any opportunity at all to have his attorney take possession of the guns until he could sell them or give them to relatives.

The word "arsenal" probably fits. The rest of the story is probably BS.

[MTT TL]

I just hate that some of the really good guns will probably be stolen by police officers rather than scrapped. Burn 'em all.

I imagine if any were going to be stolen they were stolen before the picture was taken. You should probably watch the whole projection thing though, it gives for odd appearances.