Posted on 03/08/2010 1:57:11 PM PST by AJKauf
One glance at the headlines would have convinced you that a major tragedy was averted by the keen eyes of U.S. Customs inspectors at the Port of Tacoma recently. KOMO blared: “Customs agents nab shipment of machine guns in Tacoma.” Other news outlets pointed out the dastardly nature of the shipment. KIRO in Seattle claimed: “Automatic Rifles Labeled As Toys Seized In Tacoma.” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer went with: “Customs seizes gun shipment labeled ‘toys.’”
Working from a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release entitled “Tacoma Seaport U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers Seize Shipment of Machineguns,” these news organizations had every reason to feel that they were just reporting the news, especially when Customs and Border Protection Area Port Director Rolando Suliveras Jr. claimed....
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
Well, they sure LOOK stupid, but no way I'm feeling one of them to find out!
Good question. The lower section of the AR15 type gun is essentially a trigger group. The serial number is not on the trigger group of the Garand. The receiver part of the Garand does have the serial number. It does seem like the similar part on the AR15 should have the serial number. My guess is that the BATF agent that gave Stoner the serial number for his first AR15 prototype was stoned.
Is it? I wonder if the real question is if the full-auto fire control parts of the toy can be put into an AR...
Maybe. I doubt it but maybe.
Well, sucks. Guess that Airsofts may be required to be modified or be produced in different models so they can’t be Frankengunned. But this is silly. You could machine a bowling pin to be part of a gun if you wanted, does this mean bowling pins become contraband?
And just how reliable would such a rig be.
As an engineer, if I wanted to do “machine gun” on the sly I think I’d make an electronically or mechanically controlled “finger” actuator to fit upon the trigger. Press the switch or crank the crank and there I’d go.
This country’s gone silly nuts over trying to stuff a genie that has long left the bottle back in.
ATF Seizes 30 Toy Guns, Says "They Can Be Converted Into Machine Guns"
Read some of the comments. They should feel stupid.
You gotta be kidding me? This is what happens when you dumb down the schools, you end up with idiots. Plastic toy guns could be converted to Machine guns???? LOL that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I don’t know a lot about guns. But, I have enough sense to know that cheap plastic and light metal would never withstand a bullet being fired, if that were even possible.
Rat-a-tat!
The full-auto sear from the airsoft gun in question is a sort of paddle-like device which operates much like the real counterpart. However, in order to accommodate it, it would be necessary to drill a hole into the lower receiver and mill out some of the sidewall from within. This modification alone is already illegal. In fact, the auto sear of an M-16 is not illegal to posses and possession does not substantiate "constructive intent". Some people receive the real auto sear when taking delivery of de-miled gun kits. The parts themselves are mere curiosities, but drill that hole above the selector and your ass is grass.
..should be "possess"...
...stupid spellchecker.
In fact, anyone with a pair of tin snips and an old can is able to produce a "lightening link". Heck, I think you can make them out of popsicle sticks.
Not quite the same thing as converting an airsoft gun into a machine gun is it?
You know, this is where the exact actual claims of the ATF get interesting. They don't really claim that the airsoft guns are being used to convert real serialized firearms. They are actually claiming that the toys themselves are convertible, which is flatly stupid.
The only way they could make this claim is if they are referring to the mating of a real AR-15 type upper receiver to the airsoft lower. They must be relying upon the purely legal technicality that the real firearm's "identity" follows the serialized lower, which is straining at the gnat.
I would like to see the agent in that video convert one and then, without anything other than standard eye and ear protection, fire it. First he will have to figure out which way the magazine goes in.
Hey, don't discount the ability of the ATF Magic Machine Shop to convert anything into a machine gun. They could turn a stapler into an illegal, unregistered machine gun if they wanted. And even if they did this by simply duct-taping one to the top of a legal, registered machine gun, who is a federal judge going to believe?
“I wonder if the real question is if the full-auto fire control parts of the toy can be put into an AR...”
Um, sure. If you throw them in the trash and then buy a full auto fire control group.
It’s not even close to the same mechanism. As in NOT EVEN CLOSE. The “full-auto fire control” on an airsoft is a small electric motor and gear train that drives a plastic piston in a metal cylinder, i.e., a little air pump! And that pump would shatter from the backpressure of a SINGLE .223 round. In fact, not a SINGLE PART of an airsoft could contain the pressure generated by a .223 round. NONE.
This entire thing is INSANE.
“The full-auto sear from the airsoft gun in question is a sort of paddle-like device which operates much like the real counterpart.”
Huh? Look here for info (wiki on this is decent): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft_gun#Automatic_electric_guns There isn’t even a sear present. Or by sear do you mean the fire control group? In the airsoft, the fire control group is basically an electric switch for the air pump, isn’t it? That’s NOTHING like the fire control group of an AR, AK, or any other real firearm.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.