A seizure of guns reported this week by a Texas sheriff’s office created confusion among shooting aficionados since the wording used didn’t specify the reason for the confiscation.
The commendable seizure was made last week by a deputy with the Gonzalez County sheriff’s office near Leesville, Texas. However, a post made on Monday through their Facebook page created some confusion.
Facebook post made by Gonzales County Sheriffs Office
In their post, the sheriff’s office noted the seizure of 14 “high-powered assault rifles” in the trunk of a vehicle during a traffic stop near Leesville Texas. However, they neither listed a charge for the man nor the reason for the seizure.
That lack of information on the Facebook post, sourced by various local news outlets, created a stir among the shooting community since in Texas possession of loaded weapons in a vehicle remains legal.
Additionally, Texas is expected to implement open carry for handguns come January 1; the open carry of rifles is already legal.
The term high-powered assault rifle also misleads in that the left-of-center media uses it to refer to any type rifle.
Technically speaking, the term assault rifles should only be used for fully-automatic military rifles (machine gun), which are generally not available for the general public. The weapons readily available are semi-automatic rifles, meaning that one bullet is fired each time the trigger is pulled just like any hunting or sporting rifle.
Breitbart Texas obtained the court records for the driver of the vehicle, 25-year-old Pablo Gonzalez from the border city of Mission. Gonzales is a previously convicted felon who according to agents with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives had been driving with 14- semiautomatic rifles in his trunk
Gonzalez was formally charged in the Western District of Texas with one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon.
The ongoing cartel violence in Mexico has created a large demand for weapons. Since weapons are highly restricted and virtually impossible to get in Mexico, cartels have resorted to purchasing them in the U.S. and then smuggling them into Mexico, which based on the court records is what Gonzalez was allegedly trying to do.
In the Facebook post, GCSO Chief Investigator Matt Atkinson says, “This is exactly what proactive highway interdiction can accomplish and this undoubtedly saved many lives in Mexico and potentially here in Texas.”
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
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