SYDNEY, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Australian police have charged a 40-year-old man after finding a Nazi machine gun and 60 rounds of ammunition during a traffic stop on Sunday evening.
The German-made MP40 submachine gun is said to be "very rare in this country" and quite "collectable," military antique expert John Burridge explained to Xinhua Monday.
The alledged incident took place in New South Wales, on the State's Central Coast in the small suburban township of the Entrance, 100 kilometers north of Sydney.
Police told local media, the gun appeared to be in working order and that the person who was charged with the alleged offence of possessing a prohibited firearm was the passenger of the vehicle, not the driver.
Senior curator at the Australian War Memorial, Shane Casey, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the weapon was initially "designed to be carried by troops in vehicles or paratroopers because it's quite small and has a folding stock."
According to Casey, there have been other examples of the weapon being used after World War II in countries like Northern Ireland, Vietnam and Cambodia.
As for how the man ended up in the possession of such an unusual firearm remains unclear, however Burridge believed the gun might have originally been souvenired by an Australian soldier during World War II.
"The bloke (who originally brought it back) most likely served in the Middle East, you can guarantee it," Burridge said.
