Police in a small town in Massachusetts impounded 98 firearms and a number of shells after a complaint they were being improperly stored.
The Cohasset Police Department on April 14 announced they seized the collection from a home on Doane Street following a search warrant. Photos posted by the agency show a myriad of vintage long arms including Mauser bolt-action rifles, lever-action Winchesters, a Browning Auto 5 semi-auto shotgun and assorted other firearms piled in the bed of a pickup truck.
While authorities caution the case remains under investigation, local media report that five “military grade ordnance shells” were transferred to the custody of a Navy unit from Naval Station Newport after being cleared by the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad.
Cohasset Chief Bill Quigley said the unidentified 65-year-old man who owned the firearms had a license but that he allegedly violated state safe storage laws by not having his guns secured.
“Charges are imminent. It’s just a matter of how many offenses he is charged with,” Quigley told the Patriot Ledger, going on to say the shells may have come from the nearby Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot Annex which closed in 1962.
According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Massachusetts is the only state that requires all firearms be stored with a locking device in place, barring keeping any firearm unless it is secured in a locked container or equipped with a lock.
