Rob Doar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and a gun rights advocate, reviewed photos of weapons in the federal criminal complaint against Boelter and saw what appear to be semi-automatic “civilian-legal” variants.
“Whether purchased through a dealer or private party,” Doar said, “their acquisition in Minnesota would have required either a permit to purchase or carry and compliance with state and federal transfer regulations.”
Charges in Hennepin County District Court that noted Boelter “is the listed purchaser for at least four of the recovered firearms.”
Dan Carlson, Boelter’s Minneapolis roommate a few days a week and a friend since grade school in Sleepy Eye, Minn., said the two of them “thought guns and weapons were cool. As children, we were like that, and it kind of stuck with us.”
Carlson said he saw that Boelter had a few guns and “was kind of like the gun type. I didn’t think they were automatic ones.”
Boelter’s interest and possession of guns were not worrisome, Carlson said.
