Should this young man — whose nature was apparently so obvious to his mother that, when a ABC News reporter called, she said “You have the right person” — have been able to buy guns, ammunition and explosives? The gun lobby will say yes. And the endless gun control debate will begin again, and the lobbyists of the National Rifle Association will go to work, and the op-ed thinkers will have their usual thoughts, and the right wing will issue alarms, and nothing will change. And there will be another mass murder.
I think that the numbers for responsible gun owners still speak for themselves- No legally owned fully-automatic firearm in private hands in the US has been linked to a crime.
I think that the numbers for responsible gun owners still speak for themselves- No legally owned fully-automatic firearm in private hands in the US has been linked to a crime.
That is a fascinating piece data, if true. Is the comment downvoted heavily because it is false or because of some political concern? Can someone sufficiently interested in US gun laws to be aware of the statistics confirm for us?
My country doesn’t allow random citizens legal ownership of fully automatic weapons and don’t particularly object to that. But even so it’d be rather amusing if even in the US where fully automatic weapons are legal it is still only black market fully automatic weapons that have ever been linked to a crimes. If true I assume the factors of price and of being ridiculously easy to trace back to you due to registration are the deterrent. (Possibly combined with a sufficiently free flowing black market.)
Mostly price. Since fully automatic weapons are legal, but producing or importing them for civilian use in the USA has been illegal for many years, the few remaining command quite a premium. They are not used in stickups for the same reason Rolls-Royces are not used as getaway cars.
They are not used in stickups for the same reason Rolls-Royces are not used as getaway cars.
I wouldn’t use a gun registered in my name and of a type that is relatively rare for the same reason I wouldn’t use a Rolls-Royce with my number plate right there on the back as a getaway car. I don’t want the authorities to have a reason to privilege me as a hypothesis just because Mortimer and I are the only two people registered with that kind of weapon in the entire city.
Available to people who cannot pass a background check
Less traceable (if a black market weapon is found at the scene of a crime, it is harder to determine who owned it last.
Fairly easy to create through easily researched and fairly simple modifications to grey market or legal Semi-automatic firearms
Compare the Waco Branch Davidians, who were served with warrants because they purchased the materials under circumstances which indicated probable cause to believe that they were being used for illegal purposes.
For balance: A report I heard on the evening of the 21st of June said that according to then-current information all his firearms had been bought legally. It was later confirmed separately. However, as Decius notes below, it is unlikely that he used a fully automatic firearm, as the difficulty in acquiring one makes it more likely that if the man used a fully automatic weapon, it was an illegally modified semi-automatic.
Disinformation is NOT noise. I included 4 adjective phrases in my claim, and I know that the claim is false considering any combination of only three of them. The sources you linked choose explicitly to not state if the firearms in question are fully-automatic, but the shops listed typically don’t make five-figure sales, like a fully-auto AR-15.
For reference, the least expensive firearm matching the ‘fully-automatic’ and ‘legal in the US’ qualifiers are around $2500 each if the seller needs to sell them within hours, and $4000 if the you want to buy one in a reasonable amount of time.
Thanks for looking into it more thoroughly. If there are any other updates besides the sources I linked to (which were the only ones available at the time) please inform me—I normally do not follow those organizations’ news coverage either. I’m not sure why you mention the costs of the firearms, but it might be worthwhile to know that I heard on the evening of the 21st of June on All Things Considered that he bought the firearms in May and June.
Why is it disinformation? Those were the only sources available at the time, and they both quoted Oates, who I believe is a sheriff who initially worked the case before the FBI took over. If this is still disinformation, then please correct me so I may better find my news.
It’s disinformation because I made a specific claim, and you responded by refuting a claim different from the claim I made.
The costs are relevant because they are one of the reasons why legally acquired FA firearms are not used in crimes. They typically cost about 10 times as much as illegally modified semi-auto firearms of the same model, and involve a more significant background check to acquire than firearms in general.
If there was a legally acquired FA firearm used, the serial number and ownership history would be available within minutes of the time the name and DOB (or DOB and zipcode) of the owner was known.
There is a rationality link here, but it’s not the one you were thinking of.
We’ve Seen This Movie Before—By ROGER EBERT
Colorado Gun Laws Remain Lax, Despite Changes After Columbine
I think that the numbers for responsible gun owners still speak for themselves- No legally owned fully-automatic firearm in private hands in the US has been linked to a crime.
That is a fascinating piece data, if true. Is the comment downvoted heavily because it is false or because of some political concern? Can someone sufficiently interested in US gun laws to be aware of the statistics confirm for us?
My country doesn’t allow random citizens legal ownership of fully automatic weapons and don’t particularly object to that. But even so it’d be rather amusing if even in the US where fully automatic weapons are legal it is still only black market fully automatic weapons that have ever been linked to a crimes. If true I assume the factors of price and of being ridiculously easy to trace back to you due to registration are the deterrent. (Possibly combined with a sufficiently free flowing black market.)
Mostly price. Since fully automatic weapons are legal, but producing or importing them for civilian use in the USA has been illegal for many years, the few remaining command quite a premium. They are not used in stickups for the same reason Rolls-Royces are not used as getaway cars.
I wouldn’t use a gun registered in my name and of a type that is relatively rare for the same reason I wouldn’t use a Rolls-Royce with my number plate right there on the back as a getaway car. I don’t want the authorities to have a reason to privilege me as a hypothesis just because Mortimer and I are the only two people registered with that kind of weapon in the entire city.
Black market FA firearms are:
Cheaper
Available to people who cannot pass a background check
Less traceable (if a black market weapon is found at the scene of a crime, it is harder to determine who owned it last.
Fairly easy to create through easily researched and fairly simple modifications to grey market or legal Semi-automatic firearms
Compare the Waco Branch Davidians, who were served with warrants because they purchased the materials under circumstances which indicated probable cause to believe that they were being used for illegal purposes.
Try an extra newline before the bulleted list there.
Try asterisks for your bulleted list there.
a -a
For balance:
A report I heard on the evening of the 21st of June said that according to then-current information all his firearms had been bought legally. It was later confirmed separately. However, as Decius notes below, it is unlikely that he used a fully automatic firearm, as the difficulty in acquiring one makes it more likely that if the man used a fully automatic weapon, it was an illegally modified semi-automatic.
Disinformation is NOT noise. I included 4 adjective phrases in my claim, and I know that the claim is false considering any combination of only three of them. The sources you linked choose explicitly to not state if the firearms in question are fully-automatic, but the shops listed typically don’t make five-figure sales, like a fully-auto AR-15.
For reference, the least expensive firearm matching the ‘fully-automatic’ and ‘legal in the US’ qualifiers are around $2500 each if the seller needs to sell them within hours, and $4000 if the you want to buy one in a reasonable amount of time.
Thanks for looking into it more thoroughly. If there are any other updates besides the sources I linked to (which were the only ones available at the time) please inform me—I normally do not follow those organizations’ news coverage either. I’m not sure why you mention the costs of the firearms, but it might be worthwhile to know that I heard on the evening of the 21st of June on All Things Considered that he bought the firearms in May and June.
Why is it disinformation? Those were the only sources available at the time, and they both quoted Oates, who I believe is a sheriff who initially worked the case before the FBI took over. If this is still disinformation, then please correct me so I may better find my news.
It’s disinformation because I made a specific claim, and you responded by refuting a claim different from the claim I made.
The costs are relevant because they are one of the reasons why legally acquired FA firearms are not used in crimes. They typically cost about 10 times as much as illegally modified semi-auto firearms of the same model, and involve a more significant background check to acquire than firearms in general.
If there was a legally acquired FA firearm used, the serial number and ownership history would be available within minutes of the time the name and DOB (or DOB and zipcode) of the owner was known.