A 66-year-old man from County Down, Northern Ireland, has been sentenced after attempting to post an AR-15 assault rifle and two handguns to himself from the United States.
William McMullan, of Loughdoo Road, Newtownards, was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers at his home in November 2019 after Border Force detected firearm parts at Coventry International Postal Hub.
The discovery, made in two separate packages, included components for an AR-15 assault rifle, a revolver, and a self-loading pistol.
The weapons were broken down into parts in an attempt to smuggle them into the UK.
Following his arrest, McMullan admitted to purchasing the firearms while on holiday in the United States and mailing them back to his address in Northern Ireland.
On Thursday, 12 September, McMullan pleaded guilty to firearms importation offences at Downpatrick Crown Court. He was sentenced on Friday, 20 September, to 10 months in prison, suspended for 12 months.
NCA Belfast Branch Commander David Cunningham highlighted the potential danger posed by the weapons:
“These firearms could have caused mass casualties in the wrong hands. The AR-15 in particular is a military-style rifle, of the type known to have been used in a number of high-profile mass shootings in the United States. There is no place for deadly weapons like these in Northern Ireland.”
Cunningham also spoke of McMullan’s recklessness: “These were serious offences, and McMullan was foolish in the extreme to think he could get away with it.”
Phillip Holliday, Regional Director of Border Force Central, added: “Border Force are committed to stopping firearms from entering the country illegally, where they fuel organised criminal gangs and ruin lives. We will continue to work tirelessly to keep the public safe and our borders secure.”
It’s crazy that he somehow managed to get past the background checks for a handgun without US citizenship or a green card- that’s unusual for a legal sale as I understand it. Glad it was spotted.
Just a little bit of a gun-nerd niggle that I picked up working in Texas: An assault rifle is a select-fire weapon- i.e. it can fire semi-auto and fully auto. An AR-15 that can be legally bought in the US is not an assault rifle, in that is semi-auto only. Given the way the police are talking about this one, I assume it fits in the semi-auto category, making it not an assault rifle.
Thanks for actually doing some research on US gun laws before speaking about it. Half the country thinks ar15s shoot 9000 rounds a minute and that some guns like Barrett 50 cal have heat seeking bullets lol. You are correct in that he himself could not buy that legally- so he probably used what’s called a straw purchase which is paying someone else to buy it for him which is highly illegal and if that purchase was made legally the paperwork will show who bought it in the states (with the serial number matching the background check) and they will be in for a serious felony.
Yeah, my colleagues in Texas were shooters- with a number of military veterans among them. So I became more familiar with firearms than some- although I’d hardly call myself an expert. I did look into gun ownership over here in the UK, because I got quite into target shooting, but it’s just too much hassle.
ARs are the same as any gun, they can be fun, useful, an interesting technical challenge to learn, but always with the potential to be a danger to yourself and anyone around you if mis-used.
The convicted man worked in Montana for a considerable amount of time and held a US “green card.” He also had a UK gun license and could have imported the guns legally had he not allowed his license to expire the previous month. And he was an experienced armorer. The judge didn’t give him an immediate prison sentence because he recognized he wasn’t dealing with a potential mass murderer. Hardly think we are dealing with the crime of the century here.
Ah, so he did have a legal means to buy them- that had confused me!
Unless I’m mistaken, UK law on firearms limits semi-automatic rifle ownership under a normal licence to rimfire cartridges, and handguns need to be modified to have a greater total length; so did he have a different category licence, or as an armourer did he have a legal certification or similar for modifying guns for onward sale?
I thought you had to declare any owned firearms on your licence too, which had to be procured from a licenced dealer? Could be wrong on that one.
A normal AR-15 (generally sold in .223 or 5.56 NATO centrefire) and unmodified pistols would still fall outside of what can be legally owned with a standard-category firearms licence.
I agree, the guy doesn’t seem to be a criminal mastermind or anything, but he was potentially not legally very clued up on something he really should have been…
A suspended prison sentence ? What the hell ?!