Massive arsenal including machine guns, assault rifles seized in Richmond weapons bust
California authorities on Thursday released new details on a huge weapons bust in Richmond last month where multiple machine guns and a million rounds of ammo were seized.
The arsenal was owned by a man who is legally barred from owning weapons, according to State Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The AG's office released video from the man's home in Richmond where local and state officers convened on January 31st. Bomb squad technicians from Travis Air Force Base were also involved.
Authorities found 11 machine guns, 60 assault rifles, and dozens of other firearms along with approximately one million rounds of ammunition of miscellaneous calibers. There were also 3,000 large-capacity magazines and 20 silencers in the cache of weapons.
Authorities credit a state database for helping them find the weapons stash. It's called APPS, or "Armed and Prohibited Persons System."
The database helps authorities identify people who had firearms and later became prohibited from legally owning them.
That includes individuals who were convicted of a violent crime, were placed under a restraining order, or suffer from serious mental illness.
California was the first state in the nation to establish a system like APPS. At the time, the state didn't released the name of the man at the center of that Richmond bust, but the Contra Costa County District Attorney identified the man as 68-year-old Richmond resident Lawrence Robert Hansen on March 19.
He is now facing a 21-count felony complaint in connection not only with the illegal weapons cache, but also for making threats.
