1 million rounds of ammo, hundreds of illegal firearms seized in Bay Area home

Officials seized a large cache of illegal firearms, including assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and approximately one million rounds of ammunition. Photo from the office of AG Bonta.

LOS ANGELES – California Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced the arrest of a suspect in the city of Richmond, Calif., with a large cache of illegal firearms, including assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and approximately one million rounds of ammunition.

Officials say the suspect is allegedly not legally allowed to own firearms.

“This arrest demonstrates exactly why the Armed and Prohibited Persons System is vital for the safety of our communities,” Bonta said in a statement released on Feb. 15. “In our efforts to retrieve guns from a prohibited individual, we found hundreds of allegedly illegal weapons and approximately one million rounds of ammunition.”

The Armed and Prohibited Persons System (APPS) tracks firearm owners who are prevented from having firearms because they were convicted of a felony, certain misdemeanors, have a restraining order against them or had a mental health triggering event. California is the only state in the country with this kind of system.

Last month, investigators from multiple agencies assisted in serving a search warrant at the suspect’s residence in Richmond. During the search, several suspected grenades were discovered and the Walnut Creek Police Department Bomb Squad and Travis Air Force Base Bomb Squad were asked to respond. The grenades were found to be inert.

Officials say they seized approximately 11 military-style machine guns, 133 handguns, 37 rifles, 60 assault rifles, 7 shotguns, 20 silencers, 4 flare guns, 3,000 large capacity magazines, approximately one million rounds of miscellaneous caliber ammunition, and dozens of rifle receivers and pistol frames.