Vietnam War veteran sent to prison for buying “rare” gun in the 1980s

A 70-year-old Texas man was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to buying an automatic rifle in the 1980s, CBS station KTVT reports.

Alfred Pick of Plano purchased the M14 rifle at a gun show that was similar to the weapon he had as an Army lieutenant in the Vietnam War.

“This gun was very rare,” Pick attorney Ryne Sandel told KTVT. “You see, at that time it was rare to see one, so he instantly, you know, had a connection to it.”

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided Pick’s house last year on a tip about the weapon, KTVT reports. Two weeks before the raid, his wife of 40 years had died of cancer, according to the station.

Pick and his wife had a gun collection of about 14 weapons, Sandel said. “Many of them were collector’s items,” he said.

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