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Collector maybe? The article makes it sound like they may have been legally acquired prior to him being barred from owning them. That cache may have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from the machine guns alone.
I find it odd that no one has mentioned the possibility that he could have been a black market dealer. Suppressors, short barreled rifles, and fully automatic machine guns, are all purchasable in the US if you can file the right paperwork and be approved for those purchases by the BATF, under the National Firearms Act (NFA). This approval process includes the ATF having you on speed dial to show up and make sure you still safely possess said items, and aren’t flipping them on the street for a massive mark up.
While an NFA regulated suppressor might run you $1200 after taxes and fees, a suppressor on the streets without the paper trail might go for closer to 3-5k. Actual transferrable machine guns, due to their extreme rarity in the US, command prices from $10,000 to $60,000 dollars through existing legal channels, and again, could be sold at a massive markup without the baggage of a paper trail. Even firearms legal to own without NFA restrictions would command a sizable markup when sold off the books. And this is how gangs have armed themselves for decades, through dealers just like this.
Based on the picture, he was definitely a collector. There are multiple collector's items in there. That said, he could be a black market dealer who also purchased collector's items for himself when he came across them. Also, does California not have more restrictive laws regarding Suppressors, short barreled rifles, and fully automatic machine guns? I thought they had laws regulating magazines to 10 rounds?
Article confirms that machine guns are illegal in California. He had multiple World War 1 era machine guns and other pieces that could be in museums. This guy should have just moved to a neighboring state. He had the money.
This screams hardcore collector who was active from the 60s onwards, refused to turn his collection in and said ‘fuck it I’m all in on the felonies already’ and made some stuff himself on the low down. The machineguns may be a mix of NFA and illegal, idk but 80%s and/or parts kits speak to his technical ability
The Lewis and Lahti is what sways me from illegal dealer to gun nut, no criminal gives a shit about those kind of weapons
There is also an MG 18, the ZB you mentioned may be a Bren gun, and there is a Japanese type 97 machine gun.
Hope that the actual relics with history get kept and put into a museum or something, the WW1 pieces especially, instead of a metal crusher
Yeah, I’d say those are good observations. Curious to see if we ever hear more about the case.
Yes, California state laws are more restrictive than the federal baseline, and on that note I would counter that risking a pile of decade long felony convictions seems a bit risky for a “collector”. If dude knows how to acquire all of this restricted hardware without leaving an obvious paper trail, I would imagine he knows the massive consequences of his actions. Possession of even one unregistered NFA item is a 10 year felony. No one takes that risk because “I just think they’re neat!”
I feel like we have more and more Marge’s every year in the US gun market.
That's a good point, but as someone else pointed out, some of those guns are rare and unlikely for a black market dealer to be interested in. Though it's possible he was a collector and dealer.
Many years ago I was offered a 1911 with a suppressor for $800. Auto sears aren't even that hard to find.
A collector generally only collects guns, not ammo. You don't need a million rounds for guns that are too valuable to actually use.
Collectors generally also like shooting not as valuable guns?
You don’t need to hoard millions of ammo to go shooting. Most people don’t.
You don't need a million rounds for guns that aren't too valuable to actually use either. No average person needs a million rounds for any reason.
If he didn't have those guns, the king of England could walk right in here and start pushing you around.
D'you want that? Huh? Do ya?
And if he wants to be ready for the British army, he’s gonna need a million rounds.
No. It's a joke from a classic Simpsons episode where Homer buys a gun
So?
It depends on whether you're a collector or a Collector. Someone who collects them but takes them to gun shoots could easily go through tens or hundreds of thousands of rounds due to how fast some of those guns fire. Millions of rounds seems a bit high, but if he was regularly buying surplus ammo out of habit it seems like you could hit that much without meaning to.
However, if he was a captial-C Collector, then yeah, millions of rounds is nuts.