3 ms·

The news article was wrong, it wasn't a machine gun. It was a semi-automatic rifle, hardly different than the rifle that Anders Breivik used to kill scores of p

The news article was wrong, it wasn't a machine gun. It was a semi-automatic rifle, hardly different than the rifle that Anders Breivik used to kill scores of people in Norway. An example of actual machine guns used would be the rifles used by French citizens to kill over a hundred people in the Bataclan theater (AKMs). They also used hand grenades and high explosive (TATP) suicide belts. In the Charlie Hebdo attacks, besides machine guns they also had an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade).

thesmallestcat 9y ago
It seems like organized criminals in Europe have greater access to automatic firearms than in the US. I'm guessing that's because in the US you're dealing with stolen/straw-purchased legal firearms, whereas military/police arms from former Soviet-bloc countries circulate in Europe. I have nothing to back this up.
soundwave106 9y ago
If you search for Ben Ledford's arrest record in Sacramento County's inmate records database (http://www.sacsheriff.com/inmate_information/SearchNames.aspx http://www.sacsheriff.com/inmate_information/SearchNames.asp...), one of the items he is charged under indeed is PC 32625(A) -- possession of a machine gun. So, not sure if the news article is necessarily wrong. Clearly there is some prosecutor out there who believes that what Ben Ledford possessed qualified as the definition of a machine gun under California law.
- ad_hominem 9y ago
  Huh I stand corrected. I've seen ATF agents[1], FBI agents [2], as well as US district attorneys[3] incorrectly refer to semi-automatic AR-15s as "assault rifles" (which in actual fact are subclasses of machineguns), but since they charged him with that I assume it really must be a machinegun then. But now I'm really curious to know more specific details about this firearm. Particularly if it was a legally transferable machinegun (legal federally, obviously not in California), or if it was an illegally modified semi-automatic (probably most likely) or a black market gun. [1]: http://ktla.com/2015/12/02/mas-shooting-suspects-had-assault-rifles-pistols-many-magazines-in-shootout-atf/ http://ktla.com/2015/12/02/mas-shooting-suspects-had-assault... [2]: http://documents.latimes.com/lax-shooting-cell-phone-search-warrant/ http://documents.latimes.com/lax-shooting-cell-phone-search-... [3]: https://www.scribd.com/document/293561681/Enrique-Marquez-charged-with-terrorism-offenses-in-San-Bernardino-shooting-investigation https://www.scribd.com/document/293561681/Enrique-Marquez-ch...
  - thesmallestcat 9y ago
    It was actually a Glock hooked up to one of these http://www.sidehustlenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/outsource-smart.gif http://www.sidehustlenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/o...

thesmallestcat 9y ago

It seems like organized criminals in Europe have greater access to automatic firearms than in the US. I'm guessing that's because in the US you're dealing with stolen/straw-purchased legal firearms, whereas military/police arms from former Soviet-bloc countries circulate in Europe. I have nothing to back this up.

soundwave106 9y ago

If you search for Ben Ledford's arrest record in Sacramento County's inmate records database (http://www.sacsheriff.com/inmate_information/SearchNames.aspx http://www.sacsheriff.com/inmate_information/SearchNames.asp...), one of the items he is charged under indeed is PC 32625(A) -- possession of a machine gun. So, not sure if the news article is necessarily wrong. Clearly there is some prosecutor out there who believes that what Ben Ledford possessed qualified as the definition of a machine gun under California law.

ad_hominem 9y ago
Huh I stand corrected. I've seen ATF agents[1], FBI agents [2], as well as US district attorneys[3] incorrectly refer to semi-automatic AR-15s as "assault rifles" (which in actual fact are subclasses of machineguns), but since they charged him with that I assume it really must be a machinegun then. But now I'm really curious to know more specific details about this firearm. Particularly if it was a legally transferable machinegun (legal federally, obviously not in California), or if it was an illegally modified semi-automatic (probably most likely) or a black market gun. [1]: http://ktla.com/2015/12/02/mas-shooting-suspects-had-assault-rifles-pistols-many-magazines-in-shootout-atf/ http://ktla.com/2015/12/02/mas-shooting-suspects-had-assault... [2]: http://documents.latimes.com/lax-shooting-cell-phone-search-warrant/ http://documents.latimes.com/lax-shooting-cell-phone-search-... [3]: https://www.scribd.com/document/293561681/Enrique-Marquez-charged-with-terrorism-offenses-in-San-Bernardino-shooting-investigation https://www.scribd.com/document/293561681/Enrique-Marquez-ch...
- thesmallestcat 9y ago
  It was actually a Glock hooked up to one of these http://www.sidehustlenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/outsource-smart.gif http://www.sidehustlenation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/o...