Weapons Seizure Is a Record

A routine inspection at a shooting range in Laguna Niguel has led to a record seizure of illegal assault weapons, the state attorney general’s office said Tuesday.

Agents confiscated 79 assault rifles, seven assault shotguns, three assault pistols and a rifle packed with grenade launchers during the inspection at the On Target range on Nov. 19, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said.

Also seized were 19 rounds of illegal tracer ammunition and a grenade that had been deactivated.

Ilya Yampolsky, 38, of Laguna Niguel, manager of the range, was arrested and booked on 58 felony counts of violating state firearms laws. Lockyer said the seizure was the largest ever in California. The state banned certain assault weapons in 1989.

Officials said that during the inspection at the shooting range, agents found two illegal weapons displayed publicly for sale. Further investigation unearthed dozens more at the range and revealed that Yampolsky was offering them for sale over the Internet, authorities said.

Investigators said Yampolsky may already have sold as many as 59 illegal weapons.

Yampolsky does not have a license to sell any kind of firearms, Lockyer said.

“The illegal sale of firearms is the No. 1 reason criminals are able to become armed and dangerous,” Lockyer said. “These military-style assault weapons represent a tremendous threat to officer and public safety in California.”

Since July 2002, California Department of Justice firearms agents have seized 380 assault weapons.