Gun Seized at Border “Not a Machine Gun”
Posted by FirearmsTruth on August 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Last month two “machine-gun like weapons” were seized by Customs and Border Protection officers at the border to Mexico. At the time even we questioned whether these were semi-automatic or fully automatic weapons – of course the mainstream media has moved on. It was enough for the MSM to denote the guns as American made machine guns and leave it at that, thus implying to the less knowledgeable reader that fully automatic weapons are readily available. One paper did go the extra distance to clarify exactly what type of firearms were in fact seized.
The Yuma Sun‘s James Gilbert wrote a follow-up story that included this passage:
“Len Savage, a firearms expert for Historic Arms LLC, said it is often difficult to know what you are looking at in terms of a weapon and its capabilities, unless you know what to look for.”
This is quite true in fact. You can’t judge a book by its cover, nor should you always attempt to judge a gun from a photograph. However, Savage has a bit of experience with these things as his company has repaired actual machine guns, and has produced semi-automatic versions. The paper thus added:
“…after reviewing a different photo of the machine gun, which was also taken by CBP officers and provided to him by the Yuma Sun, Savage said there is no doubt, based on the trigger housing, that it is a semiautomatic version of the MG-42 machine gun, and not an original.”
Good to know that someone followed through on these points.
