Opinion ID: 684947
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of Guns into Evidence

Text: 19 Arlt also asserts that the district court erred in admitting into evidence 40 handguns, semiautomatic weapons, and rifles seized from Arlt's property in Nevada, where he was arrested after fleeing California shortly after learning of the government's investigation. Arlt argues that there was no evidence linking the guns to the crimes in question and that the evidence was more prejudicial than probative under Fed.R.Evid. 403. We reject this claim. 20 The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the weapons as evidence in this case. We have repeatedly found that a connection exists between narcotics offenses and firearms on the ground that, [b]ecause guns are used in many drug transactions, '[i]t may reasonably be inferred that an armed possessor of drugs has something more in mind than personal use.'  United States v. Savinovich, 845 F.2d 834, 837 (9th Cir.1988) (citation omitted), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 943 (1988). In this case, there is significant evidence on the record that demonstrates that the district court did not err in admitting these weapons into evidence.