The Associated Press
A handful of guns mistakenly loaned to Fairmont State College for use as props in a play are back in the possession of the local police department.
“It was a big mix-up and it’s been fixed,” Peter Lach, chairman of the college’s School of Fine Arts, said Wednesday.
Lach said someone involved with the production of “Hair” contacted Fairmont Police Chief Ted Offutt about two weeks ago and Offutt agreed to loan the production about eight disabled weapons, including at least one machine gun, for a scene in which some soldiers are depicted.
“That seemed like a logical place to ask,” Lach said.
He said the college was considering renting the guns for about $800 from a theatrical supply house.
“The police thought they were doing us a favor and saving us some money and thought they were doing it in a very safe manner,” Lach said.
But then the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives got involved and sent Offutt a letter notifying him that the charitable act was illegal.
Under the National Firearms Act, any weapons registered with ATF cannot be transferred unless approval is granted by the U.S. Attorney General, the letter said.
Meanwhile, “Hair” opens Feb. 19. The show will feature wooden mock-up weapons, which Lach said the play’s director decided would work better for his purposes anyway.