Newtown Gunman Adam Lanza Had Arsenal and NRA Certificate

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The man who attacked a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school in December had a large arsenal of weapons including additional guns, swords and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to court papers released on Thursday.

The pale yellow two-story suburban Colonial house where the gunman, Adam Lanza, lived with his mother was stocked with weapons before he carried out the second-deadliest school shooting on record in the United States, police who searched it after the shooting said.

Documents released after the expiration of a 90-day sealing order showed that the 20-year-old Lanza, who killed himself at the end of his rampage, had a gun safe in his room and many weapons besides the AR-15-type assault rifle and two handguns used in the Dec. 14 attack.

One of the children killed in the attack was Noah Pozner, 6, whose family is Jewish.

Police inspecting the home found an Enfield Albian bolt-action rifle, a Savage Mark II rifle, a revolver, three samurai-style swords with blades measuring up to 28 inches (71 cm) and a 6-foot, 10-inch (208 cm) wood handled pole with a blade on one side and a spear on the opposite side, according to the documents.

Connecticut officials released dozens of pages of court documents on their investigation into Lanza’s assault, which began when he shot dead his mother, Nancy Lanza, in the Newtown house. He then drove to the Sandy Hook Elementary School that he had once attended, shooting to death 20 first grade children and six staff members before killing himself.

The attack, which President Barack Obama called the worst day of his presidency, reignited a fierce debate on gun violence and gun regulation in the United States.

The National Rifle Association came out swinging after the incident, calling on armed guards to patrol every public school in the country, while gun-control advocates called for tighter restriction on both the process to buy guns and the types of guns and ammunition clips that may be sold.

The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the right to gun ownership.

Police found NRA certificates in the names of both Adam Lanza and his mother, according to the documents. Police found Nancy Lanza’s body in her bed with a gunshot wound to her forehead and a file on the floor nearby.

The documents were released on the same day that a group of Newtown residents plan a protest at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, less than 3 miles (5 km) from the school, over the NRA’s opposition to new gun control laws. Newtown residents were enraged after receiving a slew of robo-calls on behalf of the NRA that were critical of gun control laws.

The court papers made public several details about the police search of the Lanza home.

Police found a smashed computer hard drive and a gun safe in the room they believed to be Adam Lanza’s bedroom.

FBI agents interviewed one or more people who described Lanza as “a shut-in and avid (video) gamer who plays Call of Duty amongst other games.” It was noted that the Sandy Hook Elementary School was his “life.”

The search also turned up a Saiga 12 shotgun and two magazines containing 70 rounds of ammunition in the car Lanza drove to the school.