Sheriff's deputies find 61 guns hidden under floorboards of San Jose apartment

[alp227]

Sheriff's deputies rolled up the carpet of a San Jose apartment unit, pried up the floorboards and found a cache of 61 guns and jewelry, most believed to be stolen during a violent home invasion robbery in Gilroy.

Santa Clara County deputies Wednesday searched the apartment of Ernesto Gonzales, a suspect in the Feb. 5 robbery, and found 40 rifles and 20 handguns, jewelry and collectibles all belonging to the Gilroy victim. They also found an assault rifle they believe was stolen in a residential burglary in Sunnyvale.

"We credit our detectives for their tireless effort, tenacious character and sharp eyes to be able to locate those hidden compartments beneath the carpeted floor," Sheriff's Sgt. Rick Sung said. "They did not want these firearms to land in the wrong hands."

Detectives interviewed people throughout the state, including Vallejo and Los Angeles, in an effort to recover the firearms. Their investigation led them to a West San Jose apartment, a location they had previously searched, Sung said.

(...)

On Feb. 5, three men dressed in black clothing broke into a Gilroy man's home, tied him up and tortured him until he gave up the security code to his safe. They stole the guns and valuable coin and stamp collections and left the 59-year-old man unconscious with life-threatening injuries when he refused to give them the combination to a safe, according to the sheriff's office.

Full story: http://www.mercurynews.com/rss/ci_18147252
(permanent cite: http://www.webcitation.org/5yzIibWWZ)

My response:

Hmm, what was that again about guns for home defense? Keeping them out in the open would make a situation like this one much quicker and more tragic. In a safe? Once the door breaks down how much time do you have to bust the safe open?

[RSillsbee]

1. Exactly why I alway have a gun w/ in arm's reach

if not on me

[tucsonlib]

2. Hmmmm....Just Like Jose Guerena?

May 5th - Pima County Arizona.

Grabbing his AR-15 might have SEEMED a good idea at the time. The ex-Marine was even level-headed enough to keep the safety engaged. Still, the SWAT team wasn't impressed. They unloaded some 70 rounds - approximately 60 struck Guerena.

After a thorough search of Guerena's house, nothing illegal was found.


Still think wearing a gun or having one w/i arm's reach is always the wisest course of action?

[Dr_Scholl]

3. He didn't do anything wrong.

But the fucking morons who raided the wrong house sure did.

[lawodevolution]

17. the government should not conduct home invasions on innocent people

[Euromutt]

4. All other things being equal, maybe not

But maybe the problem is that, thanks to the Insane so-called War on Drugs, every podunk town in the country has a team of expensively equipped but inadequately trained cops running around playing soldier and busting down people's doors to serve search warrants that increasingly don't seem to be based on suspicions that any sane person could call "reasonable."

And yes, when four cops let fly because they don't realize the gunshot they heard came from the fifth member of the team who was too fucking stupid to "keep his booger hook off the bang switch," then yes, I'd say they're inadequately trained, and it's a fucking disgrace that their higher echelon would unleash these fuckups onto the population they're supposed "to protect and serve."

[era veteran]

7. Very well put

I hate seeing police in soldier garb.It fucks up their little minds.

[PavePusher]

8. One instance is not a trend...

and most home invaders don't come in groups of a dozen, with full-auto weapons, body armor and under the cover of uniforms.

Now, what was your point?

[RSillsbee]

11. Not so much that it's ALWAYS the wisest course of action

(Feel free to quote any pro RKBA person here that has ever stated such BTW) but when it is the wisest option it's much better to have the gun on you than in a safe

[tucsonlib]

18. "Feel free to quote any pro RKBA person here that has ever stated such BTW"

Okay, here's one:

"Exactly why I always have a gun w/ in arm's reach

if not on me"


RSillsbee

[cleanhippie]

13. So you are advocating for paramilitary police raids at the wrong address?

[benEzra]

20. What are the odds of a wrong-address SWAT raid vs. a criminal home invasion?

If you are an American citizen with no criminal record and are not involved in any criminal activity, the men in masks kicking your door in and yelling something about police are most likely not LEO's. And far more people have suffered terrible consequences from submitting to criminal home invasions than from lawfully resisting wrong-address raids.

We've lived in our current working-class suburban neighborhood here in eastern NC since 2004. In that time, there have been two attempted home invasion robberies within a block of our house, both of which were successfully repelled by the homeowners (one with shots fired). On the other hand, there have been zero wrong-address SWAT raids in our entire city in that time---perhaps because our local LEO's consider themselves part of the community and take their responsibility to get things right very seriously.

Personally, I think departments that conduct wrong-address raids should be held strictly liable for all damages and loss of life that ensue, including criminal charges up to and including felony murder if the entry was illegal. I think that would go a long way toward reigning in the small minority of agencies with a cowboy complex, which seems to include the Pima County agency.

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. Wow.

How can one be so afraid?

[RSillsbee]

10. Why should i be afraid I have a gun? NT

[TheCowsCameHome]

14. Why should you be afraid if you don't have a gun? NT

[Tripod]

5. If I had a gun under my floor, it would be in my neighbors apt.

I don't think I need it, but who knows?

[Hangingon]

12. Fine if you feel that way.

I hope I never need to use my weapon, but I would not enjoy torture. There will be no compromise of my family's safety. And I will not simply yield my property so it can be turned into a day or two of drugs for those with no moral values.

[Tripod]

15. I agree.

I have a rifle, I want a hand gun to protect myself and loved ones.

[ileus]

9. hard to beat 3:1 odds even if you are armed....

I bet he won't be caught again without his primary Safety device at his side.

[lawodevolution]

16. derp, this one time the brakes on a car didn't work and the car crashed. derp. car brakes worthles

Your anecdote is worthless. There are plenty of times when the home owner defends himself or herself. To post one story of one homeowner not being able to defend himself and then declaring any attempt to defend oneself by owning guns to be worthless is like declaring car brakes to be worthless because one car one time crashed and the car brakes didn't stop it in time.

unrec this stupidity

[petronius]

19. Wait - the one Guns Forum thread that's actually about a cache, and the guy

who spews "cache" non-stop doesn't even bother to show up? :wtf:

[benEzra]

21. Where does it say that the initial victim kept guns for defensive purposes?

The article portrays him as a wealthy collector of guns, coins, stamps, and other valuables, and there isn't any indication that he kept a gun for defense, from what I can tell. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing it in the article.)

How would this have turned out differently if the safe had been filled with only jewelry, coins, and stamps, per your advice, rather than jewelry and a gun collection?

[DissedByBush]

22. How are all these civilians getting assault rifles?

"They also found an assault rifle they believe was stolen in a residential burglary in Sunnyvale."

I didn't think selective-fire was so common.

Or the reporter, as usual, is completely clueless when it comes to guns.

[gejohnston]

23. I am guessing the latter.

Select fire is very uncommon and most likely would be in a really good safe.

[Tejas]

24. BATF safehouse?