PORT HURON, Mich. – Police said they found 20 guns and four homemade silencers inside the home of a Port Huron man who had drunkenly fired shots through his own basement window and into his neighbor’s siding.
A criminal complaint filed Dec. 6 accuses Richard William Greer, 49, of receiving or possessing a firearm made in violation of the National Firearms Act, receiving or possessing an unregistered firearm, and making a firearm in violation of the NFA.
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Neighbor finds bullet holes in siding
Port Huron officers were called March 26 to a home in the 1200 block of Howard Street.
The homeowner said he had been in his living room playing video games the previous night between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. when he heard three loud “bangs.”
He said he ignored the noise because he thought his next-door neighbor was working in the backyard. Then, he heard five or six additional “bangs” during a 10-minute period.
The man said he went outside the next day and found broken glass. That’s when he discovered bullet holes in his vinyl siding and called police, according to authorities.
Greer taken into custody
Officers found the damaged vinyl siding and saw two metal bullet fragments on the east side of the home.
The next-door neighbor’s boarded-up window had several suspected bullet holes in it, police said. It appeared to lead to the basement.
When they knocked on the neighbor’s door, Greer’s girlfriend let them inside, officers said. She told them that Greer had fired shots inside their home the previous day.
Greer was arrested for discharging a firearm into an occupied building.
While in custody, Greer agreed to speak with police and told them he had fired a gun in his basement on March 25, according to the criminal complaint. He told them he had been firing at a wooden backstop and shot about four bullets with a silver pistol.
During the interview, he admitted that he had been intoxicated at the time of the shooting, police said.
Guns, silencers found during search
Greer agreed to let officers search his home and told them where to find a key to his gun safe, according to authorities.
Police said they seized 17 rifles/shotguns, three pistols, ammunition, magazines, and other firearm parts and accessories during the search.
They also found what they believed to be a black silencer on Greer’s bedroom nightstand, court records show. One of the rifles had a threaded barrel that matched the suspected silencer, officers said.
When police spoke to Greer’s girlfriend again, she told them that he makes silencers at home.
Silencers are subject to the NFA and required to be marked with a serial number. They must also be registered in the NFRTR, which is a central registry for all items regulated under the NFA.
Homemade silencers inspected
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives inspected the silencer and noticed it was threaded on one end, which would allow it to be attached to a threaded barrel.
The interior cylinder was drilled out, which could muffle the sound of gunfire, police said.
Officials said the silencer didn’t have a serial number, meaning it was made in violation of the NFA.
A Port Huron detective who participated in the search said he had found a Dremel drill and other tools on the nightstand next to the silencer.
Police reviewed photos from the search and identified another suspected silencer and more tools that could be used to manufacture silencers, according to the criminal complaint. Those items hadn’t been seized during the search.
The ATF confirmed Greer doesn’t have any firearms registered in the NFRTR.
“Therefore, on March 26, 2022, Greer was not only in possession of an unmarked silencer ... but he was also in possession of an unregistered silencer,” the complaint reads. “Furthermore, because Greer does not have any firearms registered to NFRTR, any other silencers currently in the residence would also constitute a violation. ... Lastly, because Greer was in possession of tools which could be used to make a silencer, these tools would also constitute a violation.”
Second search
ATF agents from Flint searched the house again on May 11.
An occupant at the home told agents that Greer had made one silencer for a .22-caliber rifle about 1-2 years ago. Greer didn’t know how to fit the silencer to the barrel of the gun, according to police.
Authorities seized four suspected silencers, a box containing metal pieces and a metal pipe, and two additional metal pipes.
Another suspected silencer, a Harrington & Richardson model 700 .22-caliber rifle with a flashlight attached to the end of the barrel, and a Marlin Firearms Company model 60 .22-caliber rifle had been seized during the original search, officials said.
Six items were submitted for determination on whether or not they were officially silencers, officials said. Four of those items were determined to meet the definition of silencers.
Charges
The criminal complaint concludes there’s probable cause that Greer should be charged with receipt or possession of a firearm made in violation of NFA, possession of an unregistered NFA, and making a firearm in violation of NFA.
