Man arrested before L.A. Pride with guns wasn't allowed to have them

Police officers investigate the car belonging to James Howell.
(Image credit: Jason Redmond/AFP/Getty Images)

The 20-year-old arrested in Santa Monica, California, early Sunday with three assault rifles, ammunition, and materials used to make explosives in his car was ordered in April to give up his guns.

Police say that James Wesley Howell of Charlestown, Indiana, said he wanted to go to L.A. Pride, and they are not sure what he planned to do there. In Indiana, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor intimidation charge, and in addition to being told to give up his guns, he was on probation and not authorized to leave the state, The Associated Press reports. Clark County's chief probation officer said Howell met with a probation officer three weeks ago, and was rated a low-level offender.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.