I've got a theory that says any adult who collects things has a mild mental condition.
Credit: George Mathis
Credit: George Mathis
If you've got more guns as an adult than I had comic books as a child, the affliction may be more than mild.
Know a woman with more than 3 cats? She may need help.
Know a man with more than 3 guns (handgun, shotgun, rifle)? He may need help and police monitoring.
In Los Angeles County, a man who described himself as a "secret agent" was found decomposing in an SUV near his home that contained 1,200 guns .
I've visited gun shows that displayed fewer weapons.
According to the LA Times article, the man's body was in an SUV parked in an affluent neighborhood for more than two weeks before anyone noticed. They traced the man's residence to a home down the street and found the military cache along with 2 tons of ammo.
The 60-year-old, who has not been formally identified, was known to his neighbors as Bob Smith. He told them he worked for the CIA and FBI and would show them self defense maneuvers.
I don't know anyone who is a CIA agent, probably because they don't tell their neighbors they are CIA agents.
Bob's fiancee lived in the home with him but did not report his death because she figured his secret agent pals would surely know he was dead and pick him up if she left him in a vehicle on the street.
Police say the man died from complications with cancer and he wasn't really a secret agent, but can we trust them?
The weapons, all 1,200 of them, are not thought to be illegal. Investigators say the man was either a collector, survivalist, or both. His personal arsenal may be worth more than $1 million.
Bob Smith has been identified by family members, who did not know where he lived, as Jeffrey Alan Lash.
No one knows how he got the weapons, or how he got rich. Bob, or Jeffrey, attended UCLA but dropped out and asked that his records there be sealed. He had not spoken to family members in years.
"He was not very forthcoming about what he was doing," said his father's longtime female acquaintance, 93. "He had to be doing something to collect all those guns."
Yes. But what? If he was a government worker, he probably couldn't afford $1 million in guns or a nice home in a posh area near LA.
Police attempts to learn more about the mystery man continue.
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