RALEIGH (AP) — An AR-15 military-style rifle has been reported stolen from an unlocked garage at the North Carolina home of U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers.
A report released Tuesday by the Dunn Police Department says officers were called to the Republican lawmaker’s home last Wednesday after her husband noticed the rifle, a gun case and a GPS receiver were missing. The weapon was last seen the prior day, leaning against a gun safe in the home’s attached garage.
Bret Ellmers told officers he and his son had left the rifle in the garage after going target shooting. The report does not say whether the weapon was loaded. The AR-15 is a semi-automatic carbine similar to the M-16 issued to U.S. troops.
Ellmers spokesman Thomas Doheny says the congresswoman was in Washington when the rifle was stolen but declined to discuss details, citing the ongoing police investigation. He added that, as a mother, Ellmers is concerned that the rifle was left unsecured.
“Her family is very big on gun safety and she wants to get to the bottom of this herself,” Doheny said.
Ellmers is a political conservative aligned with the tea party. In the 2012 election she was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups.
The police report says there had been no other break-ins in the residential subdivision where Ellmers and her family live. The serial number of the stolen rifle has been added to a national database used by law enforcement to track firearms.