![]() Mass killings have been carried out with all sorts of weapons from semi-automatic rifles and handguns to pump-action shotguns, to bolt-action rifles, to knives or blunt instruments. SG: Unfortunately, when an armed person attacks a group of unsuspecting and unarmed people, it doesn’t not take any kind of advanced weaponry or tactics to inflict a horrible toll on a community. Half Moon Bay shooting suspect legally owned his gun and targeted specific people, authorities said. They’re old guns, heavy and not terribly accurate, so the death toll resembled a handgun rampage more than an assault rifle rampage. A MAC-10 variant and other “assault pistols” are closer in lethality and functionality to a handgun than an AR-15. With the Monterey Park shooting, I knew immediately that the gunman didn’t use an AR-15 because there were so many survivors. The Half Moon Bay shooting was so deadly probably because he targeted his victims and shot them at close range. JM: AR-15s are particularly deadly, so they leave fewer survivors, but most mass shootings are actually perpetrated with handguns. What does the number of victims tell you about the kind of gun used? It doesn’t have to be manually cocked, like a revolver. Most handguns in circulation are semi-automatic, which means another bullet automatically moves into the chamber after firing. The gun used in the Half Moon Bay shooting was a registered semi-automatic handgun that didn’t have any of the features listed under California’s assault weapons ban. ![]() JM: The Monterey Park gun isn’t California legal because it has prohibited features under the state’s assault weapons ban: a threaded barrel, and it’s designed to take 30-round magazines. How is this gun different from the semi-automatic used in the Monterey Park shooting and why is it legal and the other one isn’t? He would have had to register the device with the federal government to legally own it.Īuthorities have said the gun was a semi-automatic weapon, legally registered to the shooter. Silencers are regulated under the same federal law that regulates machine guns. ![]() But that hasn’t been confirmed by law enforcement. JM: I believe this is a silencer which muffles the sound of a gunshot. The gun had a long barrel at the end of it – what is that and what does it do? So, the magazine’s size did not prevent him from having to reload his gun at least once.Īlso, the gun he used can fire rounds at basically the same rate as any other semi-automatic (one shot per each trigger pull) firearm. Beccera) is still working its way through the courts.Īdditionally, survivors report he also reloaded during the attack. However, a federal judge blocked enforcement of it over concerns it violates the Constitution and that case (Duncan v. Given the suspect’s age, he also could have purchased the magazine before California instituted its ban several decades ago.Ĭalifornia passed a confiscatory law outlawing possession of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds back in 2016. SG: Police report the shooter used a 30 round magazine, which California also bans new sales of. How was he able to fire off so many rounds? Suppressors work exactly the same way that car mufflers do and were invented by the same person (Hiram Percy Maxim). Depending on the caliber and effectiveness of the suppressor, they generally lower the sound to the same decibel level as a jackhammer. However, they do not actually make a gunshot silent. California … has a total ban on even possession of suppressors. The video of him being disarmed by Brandon Tsay shows what appears to be a suppressor attached to the end of the barrel. SG: CNN’s reporting suggests police believe he was illegally making suppressors, also known as silencers, at home. Were any modifications made to the gun? If so, did that make it more dangerous and/or illegal? How the Monterey Park shooting and manhunt for the gunman unfolded But, given the company who made it went out of business in the 1990s, it’s possible he legally bought it before California’s “assault weapons” ban went into effect. We need more information about when the purchase was made. However, the suspect in this case is 72 years old and the ATF trace indicates he bought the gun himself. It is also not legal to purchase today because California has banned the sale of handguns without certain features, such as a magazine safety, loaded chamber indicator, or “microstamping” technology (which no gun company actually produces). SG: The gun that was wrestled away from him appears to have had a suppressor/silencer attached to it, which means it likely had a threaded barrel which would make it illegal to purchase today. ![]() What we know about the victims in the Monterey Park massacre
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