He had enough weapons to arm a militia, and now this Rego Park man is facing some serious jail time.
Guo H. Shou, 34, was arrested on Feb. 8 of this year after authorities, in visiting his one-bedroom apartment on Wetherole Street, recovered an array of handguns, shotguns, assault rifles and other weapons. The cache of firearms also included more than 225 pounds of gunpowder and 45,000 rounds of ammunition, according to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
Members of the NYPD Licensing Division and Organized Crime Investigation Division Task Force had initially gone to Shou’s residence to conduct a regular licensee review. Many of the guns and ammunition were in plain sight to the visiting officers.
Shou did not have a federal license as a gun dealer or as a manufacturer, and therefore didn’t have the authority to store such items in his residence.
Brown noted that Shou’s apartment is located just several blocks away from an elementary school, and there was enough explosive material inside his home to cause significant casualties in the vicinity of the residence.
“The amount of gunpowder recovered in the defendant’s apartment alone was capable of igniting and causing significant damage to not only the defendant’s apartment but to neighboring apartments and the building’s exterior walls, as well as injuring or killing anyone unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity,” Brown said.
Shou pleaded guilty in Queens Criminal Court on Wednesday, Oct. 5, to a charge of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon before Acting Supreme Court Justice Gia Morris. Sentencing is scheduled to take place on Dec. 7, and Shou is likely to serve two years behind bars, as well as two years’ probation.
None of the seized ammunition and firearms will be returned to him upon release, Brown added.
