The Anchorage Press reports on an odd federal criminal case that pits the United States government against a large pile of guns confiscated from an Alaska gunsmithing company and the family of its owner and operator, Arnold "Pete" Trottier.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was investigating Trottier, who had been previously convicted for "unlawful transfer of machine guns," for violating the federal law prohibiting felons from possessing firearms.
So far no charges have been filed against Trottier, but the seized guns appear to be in hot water.
Trottier's wife says in an affidavit that the majority of guns the agents confiscated are hers and her grandson's, not Trottier's, and further that her husband couldn't even shoot them because he's left-handed and the guns are right-handed.
An affidavit from an undercover federal agent alleges that Trottier agreed to build a rifle silencer for him because he believed that a 2010 Alaska law made it legal to build any sort of firearm or component, no matter how federally illegal, as long as it has "Made in Alaska" stamped in it somewhere.
Read much more about one of the weirdest federal gun cases ever, here.