Federal agents allegedly seized approximately 60 firearms from the home of a “high-ranking Pasadena police officer.” The cache of weapons was so large that agents required two trucks to transport it.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the weapons were “worth tens of thousands of dollars.” They were allegedly discovered in the home of Lt. Vasken Gourdikian during the execution of a search warrant by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
Gourdikian was a recent spokesman for the Pasadena police department, and he was also “an adjutant to Chief Phillip L. Sanchez.”
His home is located in the San Gabriel Valley, where the ATF reports seizing “more than 30 pistols, three shotguns and 20 rifles, among other weapons.”
Gourdikian was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation following the seizure. He has worked for the Pasadena police department since 1994 and has not been charged with a crime in relation to the firearms.
ATF spokesperson Ginger Colbrun said her agency is carrying out a larger investigation regarding California police officers in general. Private citizens are limited to owning guns on the approved handgun roster in California, but police officers receive exemptions that let them buy guns not on the list.
Colbrun said the ATF has discovered “law enforcement officers who were acting as firearms dealers and… [those] officers appeared to be buying and reselling weapons without a federal firearms license.”
The ATF opened its investigation when “off-roster” guns less than three years old began showing up at crime scenes. The agency suspected a source was buying them new, then quickly reselling them on the street.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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