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American Legion in Minersville Missing 26 Rifles

MINERSVILLE — More than two dozen rifles are missing from the American Legion Post in Minersville and police are asking for the public’s help in fin...

MINERSVILLE -- More than two dozen rifles are missing from the American Legion Post in Minersville and police are asking for the public's help in finding them.

Officials say the discovery was made as the organization prepared to move out of its longtime home on Sunbury Street.

"We use these for veteran's funerals. We use them for parades," Post Commander Bob Laughlin said.

The missing rifles include 6 M-1 Garand rifles, a semi-automatic model used during World War II and Korea, and 20 other World War I era antiques.

Laughlin suspects some of the missing guns may have ended up with elderly members who went into nursing homes or died.

"The families probably had no idea where dad got these rifles, assumed they were part of his collection, and kept them," he said.

While the rifles were used to fire blanks during ceremonies, Laughlin says a small adaptor can easily turn the semi-automatic model into a live weapon.

He worries some of the guns could be stolen and fall into the wrong hands.

John Matthews lives just down the street from the Legion and says that it in unnerving to have so many rifles unaccounted for in this part of Schuylkill County.

"I hope whoever has them can remember, check around ask around, and hopefully some of them will find their way back home where they belong."

If you have one of the missing rifles you are asked to call the Minersville Police Department.

Police say if the guns are not found in the next few weeks, they will be reported stolen, and people who are found with them could be charged with a crime.

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