Santa Monica shooter built his own weapon

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Receivers are serial numbered and regulated exactly as a firearm. The receiver IS the firearm and is the only part of any firearm which is "traceable". (lower receiver for the AR-15 since the AR-15 has a two part receiver, the lower receiver contains the fire control mechanism)

The lower reciever is serial numbered upon manufacture, before it is "completed" The statement by the police is premature, uninformed or intentionally misleading. There is no way to "get around that" other than making one yourself which any machinist could do in a local machine shop, but that is not what he did.

This kind of article results when people who do not know about guns and gun laws write articles about guns and gun laws.

** Nevermind, the answer was there I just missed it.

Edited June 15, 2013 by OnMyWayID

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Point being, you can pass all the laws you want. Simply making something illegal will NEVER stop people from obtaining it, if they want it.

This is true. It doesn't mean however, that you shouldn't make these things illegal. Otherwise, we can legalize burglary, rape, murder and theft and really get those crime rates down. Take down speed limits as well since they don't stop people from speeding. Get rid of red lights while you're at it seeing that people continue to run them anyways. Lets just throw up our hands and declare defeat to the criminal elements of society. Excellent!

[RGinWA 816]

So. He failed a background check and obtained a gun that was illegal in the place he lived.

More laws more laws

The many many laws he already broke are not enough

Only purchasing the receiver was illegal. The other parts are available online...hence the problem.

I suppose the answer is to do nothing because we can't of course control people building a weapon? It's online, how would we stop it!

With that logic lets just have open immigration policy, because of course people will still break the law and come here illegally? Just open the borders! Not more fences, less fences!

I see the solution for a defined problem is applied selectively?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

This is true. It doesn't mean however, that you shouldn't make these things illegal. Otherwise, we can legalize burglary, rape, murder and theft and really get those crime rates down. Take down speed limits as well since they don't stop people from speeding. Get rid of red lights while you're at it seeing that people continue to run them anyways. Lets just throw up our hands and declare defeat to the criminal elements of society. Excellent!

well using Hysterical gun ban nut logic we would

Curtail rape by outlawing sex

Stop speeding by outlawing cars that can go over 70 MPH

Stop Red Light running by outlawing intersections

Stop Murder by not allowing human interaction.

Only purchasing the receiver was illegal. The other parts are available online...hence the problem.

I suppose the answer is to do nothing because we can't of course control people building a weapon? It's online, how would we stop it!

With that logic lets just have open immigration policy, because of course people will still break the law and come here illegally? Just open the borders! Not more fences, less fences!

I see the solution for a defined problem is applied selectively?

No actually the analogy would be to pass another law making it illegal to be in this country illegally, when the laws we have are not being enforced

[Karee 4,190]

well using Hysterical gun ban nut logic we would

Curtail rape by outlawing sex

Stop speeding by outlawing cars that can go over 70 MPH

Stop Red Light running by outlawing intersections

Stop Murder by not allowing human interaction.

No actually the analogy would be to pass another law making it illegal to be in this country illegally, when the laws we have are not being enforced

Well you beat me to it. Outlawing the device used to commit the crime doesn't make sense. As far as I can tell shooting someone is still illegal.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Well you beat me to it. Outlawing the device used to commit the crime doesn't make sense. As far as I can tell shooting someone is still illegal.

The availability of Guns in this country is more restrictive than it was 100years ago. Yet we have all this mass killings and gun violence problems

Seems like even a midly intelligent person arrive at the conclusion, "well if Guns have not changed what has "?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

well using Hysterical gun ban nut logic we would

Curtail rape by outlawing sex

Stop speeding by outlawing cars that can go over 70 MPH

Stop Red Light running by outlawing intersections

Stop Murder by not allowing human interaction.

4 analogies and all 4 fail. Awesome.

[Robby999 1,024]

Well, using Obama logic! No one individual is capable of building anything themself without the government's assistance, so I want to know the AG's whereabouts during the estimated time period this gun was allegedly manufactured!

[lostinblue 1,989]

Zawahri's last reported contact with law enforcement was seven years ago, when bomb-making materials were found at his house during a search prompted by threats to students, teachers and campus police officers at Olympic High, a school for students with academic or disciplinary issues.

Retired police officer Cristina Coria, who helped serve the search warrant, said Zawahri was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation at the time. She didn't know the outcome of the evaluation.

Police declined to provide further details, saying Zawahri was a minor at the time. But once a person is held for such an exam, they cannot access or possess firearms for five years.

In the case of Zawahri, that prohibition would have expired in 2011.

The Santa Monica-Malibu school board was briefed at the time by school administrators after police found Zawahri was learning to make explosives by downloading instructions from YouTube, school board member Oscar de la Torre said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/14/santa-monica-gunman-left-apology-note-police-say/#ixzz2WJgYacEd

[Karee 4,190]

This is true. It doesn't mean however, that you shouldn't make these things illegal. Otherwise, we can legalize burglary, rape, murder and theft and really get those crime rates down. Take down speed limits as well since they don't stop people from speeding. Get rid of red lights while you're at it seeing that people continue to run them anyways. Lets just throw up our hands and declare defeat to the criminal elements of society. Excellent!

All of the things you mention above are criminal ACTS. Speeding, running red lights etc. Shooting someone is also illegal act. For the record, I think it should be illegal to shoot someone.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

All of the things you mention above are criminal ACTS. Speeding, running red lights etc. Shooting someone is also illegal act. For the record, I think it should be illegal to shoot someone.

So it was not illegal for this fella to obtain a firearm? Should it be?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Zawahri's last reported contact with law enforcement was seven years ago, when bomb-making materials were found at his house during a search prompted by threats to students, teachers and campus police officers at Olympic High, a school for students with academic or disciplinary issues.

Retired police officer Cristina Coria, who helped serve the search warrant, said Zawahri was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation at the time. She didn't know the outcome of the evaluation.

Police declined to provide further details, saying Zawahri was a minor at the time. But once a person is held for such an exam, they cannot access or possess firearms for five years.

In the case of Zawahri, that prohibition would have expired in 2011.

The Santa Monica-Malibu school board was briefed at the time by school administrators after police found Zawahri was learning to make explosives by downloading instructions from YouTube, school board member Oscar de la Torre said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/14/santa-monica-gunman-left-apology-note-police-say/#ixzz2WJgYacEd

He down loaded bomb making instructions from you tube.. we need to ban youtube.

[RGinWA 816]

No actually the analogy would be to pass another law making it illegal to be in this country illegally, when the laws we have are not being enforced

So you're for more gun laws and the enforcement of them? If you want illegals out...how about locking up those employing them? That will dry up most of the reasons they even come here.

There are few if any real gun laws...its about time we put up or shut up on the irresponsible sale's of deadly weapons. This is yet another reasons conservatives make little sense when towing the party line.

No gun laws, yet they spend all their time contemplating what a woman does with her body and how exactly they'll allow her to decide if she'll keep a pregnancy or not.

It's ridiculous and a huge reason that party is falling apart.

Edited June 15, 2013 by RGinWA

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

If you want illegals out...how about locking up those employing them? That will dry up most of the reasons they even come here.

You want to go after the "job creators"?

[Karee 4,190]

So it was not illegal for this fella to obtain a firearm? Should it be?

I thought I read somewhere that he was denied buying a firearm at some point. If based on the law he is not eligible to purchase one, then no, he shouldn't have been able to purchase one. But yet, he was able to obtain the parts. From what I have read recently, it is a federal offense to try and purchase a firearm when you are not eligible. However, the current justice dept. doesn't seem to have much interest in prosecuting people that break that law.

That's kinda the point I was making earlier related to Meth, how far up the process of manufacturing do you go? Do you start regulating the materials that are used to make guns? I don't personally know much about guns, but I assume they are made of some type of alloy like steel. Do you start regulating steel? Guns have been around longer than light bulbs, so they are fairly simple devices.

Personally, I'm neither pro or anti-gun. I myself don't own one. While on the surface all this gun control stuff seems like the right thing to do, I don't see how it can be effective in the U.S. with the constitutional issues and the sheer number of guns in this country, legal and illegal.

Seems the place to start would be concentrating on the people that use the guns to cause mayhem, rather than the guns themselves.