An elderly Portland district man recently fined in court more than $10,000 for firearm offences has now been found with more than 8500 rounds of ammunition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man is assisting Portland police detectives with their enquiries.
A police spokesman said a firearm prohibition order was served on the elderly man on Thursday and a search conducted at his property which led to the find.
The 8500 rounds included high powered centrefire ammunition as well as .177 air rifle and .223 rifle rounds.
The man was interviewed by appointment by Portland crime investigation unit detectives at the Portland police station on Friday morning.
Police will consider charging the man and he could be summoned to appear in the Portland Magistrates Court at a later date.
Early last year police seized a number of firearms from a Portland district property as part of an ongoing operation targeting gun-owner compliance.
Portland detectives executed a search warrant at an address, locating and seizing a significant number of guns and a large amount of ammunition.
Two of the firearms were unregistered.
That led to the man being fined more than $10,000 in the Portland Magistrates Court.
The man claimed in court he was told to keep a loaded gun and "shoot first, ask questions later" after a run-in with an outlaw motorcycle gang more than 20 years ago.
A Remington rifle was found under a blanket on the man's bed, while a high standard 12-gauge shotgun was found in a safe and loaded with ammo.
The search also uncovered 10 throwing knives, two crossbows and 3811 rounds of ammunition.
When asked about the loaded shotgun, the man claimed he had a run-in with an outlaw motorcycle gang "many, many years ago" and interstate police told him to keep a loaded gun and "shoot first, ask questions later".
A magistrate said that offending was "extremely serious" and posed a "very real danger to community safety".
IN OTHER NEWS
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark https://www.standard.net.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines and newsletters
- Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn
- Tap here to open our Google News page
- Join our Courts and Crime Facebook group and our dedicated Sport Facebook group
- Subscribe
Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.