Twenty firearms have been seized from a suspected gun factory and a man has been charged.
Officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) recovered four Glock pistols, nine shotguns, six long-barrelled firearms and a deactivated Bren machine gun during a house raid in Kingsclere in Hampshire on Tuesday.
Philip Maylen, 57, of Penny’s Hatch, Kingsclere, was charged with possession of a prohibited weapon and was due to appear at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
NCA branch commander Chris Hill said it was “a very significant haul”.
Officers also recovered 11 imitation firearms - an AK-47, an MP40 sub-machine gun and nine revolvers, along with a range of gun component parts.
The agency said tests were ongoing to verify if one of the Glocks and one of the shotguns were viable.
Mr Hill said the weapons “had the potential to cause devastation” within the community.
“This is a very significant haul,” he continued.
"We’ve identified and prevented a large number of lethal weapons reaching the streets of the UK.
“Protecting the public from the threat of the criminal use of firearms remains a key priority and we work with partners at home, and abroad, to combat their importation into the UK.”
If they seized firearms, I think the word “suspected” could be dropped from the headline
Seizing firearms does not make it a factory
Also, even if he was making guns, it might have been for a personal hobby.
Not completely familiar with UK gun laws, but wouldn’t this be like cooking meth as a personal hobby?
Yeah I’m not saying it’s legal. But its a long way from “factory”
More like they seized deactivated firearms, or the dude actually was deactivating them himself. This sounds like someone with a hobby doing something on the side and not having a license to do it.