21 guns, slew of charges for Easthampton man

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

EASTHAMPTON - A Chestnut Street man was arraigned on multiple gun charges Thursday after police say they found 21 unregistered guns in his house.

Jeffrey S. Parrish, 46, of 18 Chestnut St., pleaded innocent Thursday in Northampton District Court to 19 counts of possessing a firearm without a firearms identification card and two counts of possessing unregistered large-capacity firearms.

According to court documents, on May 22, Parrish's wife went to the Public Safety Complex and told Officer Robert J. Pouska that she was returning from receiving a restraining order against her husband and wanted a police escort to gather some of her belongings. She also told Pouska that her husband had two safes in the house containing many unlicensed guns.

At the home, according to police reports, she led the officers to a back bedroom and opened a closet containing two large gun safes. The first safe, which was a large steel gun safe with a combination lock, was left open, and police found many weapons and a variety of ammunition. The second safe, which was homemade and needed a key to open, was transported to the station to be opened and inventoried.

In the second safe, among other weapons, police reportedly found a .30 caliber US M-1 semi-automatic carbine rifle and a Taurus 9 mm handgun, both of which are considered large-capacity firearms and carry a more severe punishment for unregistered possession.

According to the state's Executive Office of Public Safety's Web site, possessing an unregistered large-capacity firearm is a felony, and conviction can result in up to two years in prison.

At the station, police said Parrish was issued his wife's restraining order and was told his weapons would remain seized. He reportedly told police he had been living in Massachusetts for three years and never had the $100 to apply for his firearms identification card.

Judge Richard J. Carey released Parrish on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to reappear in court on July 24.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.