Most of the time that the mainstream media uses the word “arsenal” it’s a gross exaggeration, typically referring to a normal to slightly above average collections of handguns.

In this instance, though, I’m not going to complain if reporters use the term:

It wasn’t what police expected to find when they searched a man’s Pacific Palisades home last week.

More than 1,200 guns were strewn about the Palisades Drive house and garage, police said. The weapons ranged from high-end pistols to shotguns and rifles. Many had never been fired. Some were still wrapped in their boxes, with the price tags still attached.

It was a “staggering number of guns,” said LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith. Police also found roughly two tons of ammunition.

“Our truck couldn’t carry it all,” Smith said. “We had to go back and make another trip.”

The unusual discovery came as police investigated the death of the man, whose decomposing body was found in a car parked down the street from his home.

Although the LAPD’s elite Robbery-Homicide Division detectives were initially called to handle the case, Smith said, they determined there were no signs of foul play and are not investigating the death as a homicide.

That’s a pretty staggering collection, and while the anti-gun left is no doubt freaking out about the number of firearms this man had amassed, a gun collection appears to be all that it is. There was nothing nefarious in the man’s death, nor any indications he was involved in any sort of criminal activity. He just really liked collecting firearms, for whatever reason.

Perhaps he bought them as investments.

As for the ammunition supply, it wasn’t really that much, and I known some readers who have more. While two tons of ammunition sounds like a lot, it’s probably “only” about 100,000-150,000 rounds, depending on the kind of bullet and grain weight. A relatively light case of ammo (1,000 rounds of 55-grain M193) is going to come in at between 25-30 pounds depending on how it is packaged, and larger and heavier calibers are going to weigh considerably more per round.