Attorney General Bonta Announces APPS Felony Arrest, Seizure of Dozens of Guns Including Assault Weapons and High-Capacity Magazines

LOS ANGELES — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced the arrest of and felony charges against a suspect with a large cache of illegal firearms, including assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition. The suspect is alleged to be legally barred from owning weapons due to a mental-health based prohibition and was listed in the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) database as owning one firearm.

“This arrest demonstrates exactly why the Armed and Prohibited Persons system is vital for the safety of our communities,” said Attorney General Bonta. “In our efforts to retrieve just one gun from a prohibited individual, we found dozens of illegal weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition. I am grateful for our Bureau of Firearms agents’ work in getting these illegal weapons out of the hands of this prohibited individual.”

Agents from the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Firearms (BOF) contacted the individual at the suspect’s residence in Azusa, California to retrieve his outstanding firearm. After being denied entry to the residence and obtaining a search warrant, agents entered the residence and found four machine guns, seven assault weapons, a short-barreled rifle, four suppressors/silencers, six handguns, one shotgun, four rifles, 54 lower receivers/frames, 41 standard capacity magazines, 87 large-capacity magazines, and approximately 35,000 rounds of miscellaneous ammunition.

An image of the weapons seized can be found here.

The suspect was arrested on January 25. The suspect was charged by DOJ’s Criminal Law Division with multiple felonies, including unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of an assault weapon, intentional conversion of a firearm into a machine gun, possession of a machine gun, unlawful assault weapon activity, unlawful manufacture or possession of a short-barreled rifle or shotgun, unlawful possession of ammunition, and possession of a silencer. Arraignment was February 17 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Pomona.

In 2006, California became the first and only state in the nation to establish a system for tracking firearm owners who fall into a prohibited status. The APPS database works to identify individuals who lawfully procured firearms and later became prohibited from owning or possessing them. In general, prohibited persons in APPS include individuals who were convicted of a felony or a violent misdemeanor, were placed under a domestic violence or other restraining order, or suffer from serious mental illness. 

DOJ’s Bureau of Firearms (BOF) serves the people of California through education, regulation, and enforcement actions regarding the manufacture, sale, ownership, safety training, and transfer of firearms and ammunition. BOF staff are leaders in providing firearms expertise and information to law enforcement, legislators, and the general public in a comprehensive program to promote legitimate and responsible firearms possession and use by California residents. BOF is looking to hire additional special agents and more information on assessments for relevant job openings can be found on DOJ's website at oag.ca.gov/careers/exams.