He told the cops he went pheasant hunting the month before, but he also told the cops that he hadn't fired that gun in a year! That it was probably registered to his father, and that he forgot it was there.
Which one is it??
He would have used a shotgun for pheasant.
The reason for having the handgun "because I'm a hunter" must apply to shooting sturgeon. First you gotta stun 'em with a whack from the packaged lures, though.