Massachusetts Man Arrested, More Than 40 Machine Guns Seized

I'm just now finding out about a story that broke this past Friday. A Holyoke man was indicted by a grand jury in Springfield on numerous charges. The defendant allegedly had in his possession more than 40 machine guns, short-barreled rifles, conversion devices, and other weapons.

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According to the Department of Justice(DOJ) Boston, Daniel A. Augusto, 56, of Holyoke, was indicted on 1 count of unlawful possession of machine guns, 6 counts of unlawful possession of unregistered firearms, and one count of making false statements to federal agents.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, in February of this year, Augusto had possession of several unregistered guns, plus silencers and magazines. He also allegedly had over 40 conversion devices and forced reset triggers which are considered machine guns by the federal government.

Here are just some of the items Augusto allegedly had in his possession:

• One PTR Industries, Inc., model PTR 9, 9x19mm caliber firearm bearing serial number 9MC010480 with one magazine and an altered HK MP5-type machinegun trigger housing installed;
• 38 “switch-type” Glock machinegun conversion devices bearing a counterfeit Glock logo;
• One Tommy Triggers FRT-15-3MD forced reset trigger designed to allow drop-in installation into AR-15-type firearms, with no serial number;
• One Sig Sauer, model MPX, 9x19mm caliber firearm bearing serial number 62B058947 with an electronic sight, a forward grip, and a Maxim Defense collapsible shoulder stock, and with one magazine;
• Two black firearms silencers with no markings

Prosecutors of the case also allege that Augusto lied to federal agents when he told them all of the weapons in his home actually belonged to his son and his girlfriend and that he never asked them to purchase guns.

In a media statement, U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins had this to say:

Guns are deadly weapons...We believe Mr. Augusto not only unlawfully possessed numerous unregistered firearms, but also possessed a stockpile of machineguns and conversion devices that have the capability to rapidly cause death and destruction.

For more on the story, visit the DOJ's website here.