He very well could have been grabbing the rifle to save at least some part of his collection from the flames. The Chief very well could have been jumping the gun, so to speak, on claiming the guy was going to aim it at him at all.
Think about it. Why would you want to point an un-loaded gun at someone? To scare them off? With all the LOADED guns in the house, if he had wanted to, he could just as easily have grabbed one of those if his intent was in line with the Chief's accusation.
Fine, but I prefer to withhold judgment until I see something more conclusive than a vague newspaper article. I guess that makes me an anarchist or something.