
Peters had traveled from North Carolina to New Jersey to attend his wife’s Coast Guard recruit training graduation on Jan. 9.
Despite posted warning signs near the entrance to the facility that firearms were prohibited, Peters tried to enter the facility.
His vehicle was searched and security officials found a modified, fully automatic AK-47 rifle, loaded 9 mm handgun, multiple large capacity magazines, ammunition, a ballistic vest, gas mask and canister, nylon chest rig and other items.
“Peters acknowledged that he did not listen, stating that he knew it was possible that he may be stopped, but was not expecting that to actually happen,” according to court documents.
Peters told police that he had purchased the AK-47 in Virginia but modified it himself to fire fully automatic.
Peters has a bail hearing set in federal court on Friday in Camden, New Jersey, on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm in a federal facility and unlawful interstate transport of a machine gun, according to a Department of Justice release.