 In early June 1913, around seven thousand rifles being stored by Crawford in a disused inn in Hammersmith were seized by police.The inn was being rented out to Crawford by a brother-in-law of staunch Unionist Sir William Bull, 1st Baronet.One week later, with the intention of forcing the government to accept that there was a real risk of armed resistance to Home Rule in Ulster., Crawford openly transported weapons to Belfast from several locations across England.