Go Erie
An AR-15 military-style rifle has been reported stolen from an unlocked garage at the North Carolina home of U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers.
A report released Tuesday by the Dunn Police Department says officers were called to the Republican lawmaker's home last Wednesday after her husband noticed the rifle, a gun case and a GPS receiver were missing. The weapon was last seen the prior day, leaning against a gun safe in the home's attached garage.
Bret Ellmers told officers he and his son had left the rifle in the garage after going target shooting. The report does not say whether the weapon was loaded. The AR-15 is a semi-automatic carbine similar to the M-16 issued to U.S. troops.
Ellmers spokesman Thomas Doheny says the congresswoman was in Washington when the rifle was stolen but declined to discuss details, citing the ongoing police investigation. He added that, as a mother, Ellmers is concerned that the rifle was left unsecured.
"Her family is very big on gun safety and she wants to get to the bottom of this herself," Doheny said.
Ellmers is a political conservative aligned with the tea party. In the 2012 election she was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups.
"An AR-15 military-style rifle has been reported stolen from an unlocked garage at the North Carolina home of U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers."
ReplyDeleteThe weapon was last seen the prior day, leaning against a gun safe in the home's attached garage.
Bret Ellmers told officers he and his son had left the rifle in the garage after going target shooting."
The good news is that their son is 18 and an adult which made leaving the weapon out not a great hazard to him. On the bad side is that seemed to make a total of three adults in the house that didn't notice the rifle sitting out.
I'm tracking that it was in the garage, and whomever found to have stolen it will be charged with theft. However, my education in firearms has come mainly from the military. Either the weapon is under positive control of someone, or its secured, as in locked up. In a box, a room, or a building.
One thing that did shock me in this article is that the AP author managed to avoid calling it an assault weapon even once. I wonder if he was scolded afterwards.