Legal machinegun used in crime?

4

44 AMP

Staff
An article I read today about the weapons used by the shooter in the recent Idaho incident said the shooter used an AK 47 and an Springfield M1A.

They said (or implied) that the AK 47 was a full auto, and had been legally bought from a dealer in '04 or '05, before the shooter's conviction for misdemeanor domestic violence (in '06). The BATFE said it was still investigating and declined comment.

If this turns out to be true, is this the first case of a legally owned machinegun being used by the legal owner in a crime of violence in the last 74 years?

I have heard rumors that there was a robbery committed (in the 80s) by a legal machinegun owner, who was also a police officer, but have been unable to find any reliable info.

So, it appears that we now have one (or at most two) violent crimes committed by legal machinegun owners in the last three quarters of a century!

Anybody have any good info on this?

Mods: please put this where it belongs. Thanks.
 
C

Csspecs

New member
Well I would place a hefty bet that the gun was a semi auto not a machine gun.

There was a robbery and the criminal used a SKS rifle and the news said that the police where not sure if it was semi auto or full auto (the rifle was never fired). They do crap like that all the time.
 
V

VUPDblue

New member
Legal, transferrable AK47's that are fully automatic are EXTREMELY rare and command a very high price. I seriously doubt that the AK was a transferrable. Also, if you were going to commit a crime or go on a shooting rampage, why bring along a M1A that is semi only if you are equipped with an automatic?
 
D

Dave Haven

New member
I have heard rumors that there was a robbery committed (in the 80s) by a legal machinegun owner, who was also a police officer, but have been unable to find any reliable info.
Click to expand...
The story I've heard and read was that he eliminated a drug dealer with his legally registered MAC 10. I don't consider that a crime.:D
 
O

oldbillthundercheif

Moderator
As I remember it the cop was also a hitman and the killing was "business-related", but I kind of doubt this new deal was done with anything particularly exotic.
 
S

selector67

New member
The last documented case of a registered machine gun used in a murder was in 1934, and that was done by a police officer. :eek::eek::eek:
 
M

MD_Willington

New member
For the Idaho event that occurred last weekend... my co workers & myself were in the area that day previous to when this occurred, Check out KXLY, KREM and Spokesman review...

Local college rag:
http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/22652

Idaho State Police investigators learned Tuesday that Hamilton, 36, had purchased the fully automatic AK-47 assault rifle from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Harvard, Idaho, in late 2004 or early 2005, before he was in trouble with the law, Assistant Moscow Police Chief David Duke told The Associated Press.
Click to expand...


A co-worker knew the shooter, and had this to say:

He was mentally unstable and had problems with drugs which made his paranoid.
He was always paranoid that she was cheating on him.
Click to expand...

Regarding the use of a legally registered machine gun in a crime, IIRC only 3 have occurred.
 
W

Wayfaring_Stranger

New member
I was WAY closer to this than I cared to be...

Anyway I heard he got a kit from a Class III dealer to convert his AK to fully auto. Does that sound right? I've never heard of such a kit... has anyone else? I'll tell you if it was a fully auto it didn't have a really rapid rate of fire - it sounded no different than a semi-auto.
 
D

dyoun06

New member
Auto AK47

You dont need a kit to make an AK fully auto... it is pretty simple and will ruin your rifle and land you in jail.
 
V

VUPDblue

New member
No, you could not buy a kit from a C3 dealer. There are registered transferrable AK's on the register, but not very many, and they are very pricey now days. There is no such thing as a legal 'kit' to make an AK fully automatic. The story I heard is that the guy bought a parts kit and a US made stamped receiver and put them all together. The parts kit that he got ahold of had an improperly de-milled sear and FCG that allowed him to assemble it FA capable (this is a not-so-uncommon find). He would have had to buy the receiver through a dealer, so that is where the rumor probably got started.
 
J

joab

New member
Yeah, but could you actually buy a kit from a class III dealer? Because that is what reportedly happened.
Click to expand...
No, the manufacture or importation of FAs has been banned since '86

If he
purchased the fully automatic AK-47 assault rifle from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Harvard, Idaho, in late 2004 or early 2005,before he was in trouble with the law,
Click to expand...
That would at least imply that he bought a firearm legally imported before 1986 and not that he illegally made on himself

There have been two murders committed with legally owned machine guns
1988 a police officer in Ohio killed a police informant with a MAC 11 .380

In1992 a doctor killed another doctor who he had been stalking with a MAC 11 in 380, also in Ohio

Source
 
A

AK103K

New member
I know of a boy who shot up his neighbors house (nobody got hit or died) with a registered Ruger ACC556 about 8-10 years ago. He did time for it and as far as I know, the gun was confiscated. Not much was made of it in the media, which was a surprise.
 
S

shaggy

New member
There have probably been more. I remember meeting a C3 dealer/manufacturer at Bulletfest a few years ago who went out a few months later and used an AUG in an apparent murder/suicide. According to reports at the time he found out his friend was screwing around with his girlfriend, so he chased him down, lit him up, and then turned the gun on himself. While I'm not 100% sure, I heard from reliable sources it was full auto, which would have made complete sense since he was an SOT and had a trailer full of machineguns to shoot at Bulletfest several months earlier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top