I care less about him perhaps being within the law. Fact is the legal limits are sadly being eroded. And particularly around those magazines, it's not exactly clear what it legal and what is not. And we don't know if he was within the law because the cops didn't get to see his inventory.
Refusing to allow inspectors in, being evasive about those apparently innocent parts, and playing word games with the police tells me that this guy is either a crank who wants to fuck with the administration of the registry, or someone actively involved in undermining the those laws.