Police in Palmer are facing an unusual situation. They've had to return six black powder rifles to a to a man facing charges of illegal possession of weapons and ammunition and who is accused of twice violating a restraining order taken out by his ex-wife.
Why did Craig S. Felice get his guns back?
The answer lies in Massachusetts law, according to police and the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
Although the state keeps relatively strict gun laws and boasts the lowest rate of gun deaths in the nation, "Massachusetts law does not consider black powder rifles to be firearms," Palmer Police Officer Brian McNally said in an interview last week.
"I have no idea why," he added. "(Felice) has all of those black powder rifles still."
Felix Brown, communications director of Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, consulted the state's general counsel and confirmed Palmer's finding.
"I don't think they're wrong," Brown said last week.
Brown did add that Felice would still likely be barred from obtaining ammunition and propellant powder under state law.
The search of Felice's Park Street home occurred on May 11, when Palmer police responded to a restraining order violation and report that he possessed an illegal handgun by his ex-wife, Elena Floria.
According to reports, police found a 20-gauge shotgun, "homemade bomb-type devices," fireworks and the rifles during a their search of the home.
Felice later posted $2,500 bail and collected his guns -- the rifles at least -- back from police.
In a MassLive interview Thursday, Floria said she has lost weight and struggled to sleep in recent months due to stress.
"He's a convicted felon with an active restraining order against him -- why is he allowed to have any kind of guns?"
She added, "A gun's a gun's a gun, as far as I'm concerned."
Additionally, Floria claimed to know Felice still has a handgun and has made numerous threats on her life.
She initially obtained her restraining order against him after he allegedly texted her a photograph of himself holding a .40 caliber handgun.
Felice's lengthy criminal record includes several assaults, a bizarre instance of road rage where he waved a machete out his window at another driver and the arson of the Maple Tree industrial complex in Palmer during the 90s.
Charged with multiple illegal firearms and ammunition possession charges, two counts of violating a restraining order and single counts of possessing an incendiary device and unlawful possession of fireworks -- Felice is scheduled to appear in Palmer District Court of a June 9 pretrial hearing.