Alphecca: Kid Buys Machine Gun on Web

June 25, 2005

Kid Buys Machine Gun on Web

Possession of a machine gun is illegal in Michigan, but authorities say that did not stop a local teen from ordering one over the Internet.

A 15-year-old Lodi Township boy is being charged for his purchase of the gun. He is a student at Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School.

Washtenaw County authorities say the teen emailed video in which he was using the gun to a friend in New Mexico. That friend’s father saw it and contacted police.

The machine gun is a British-made Sten 9mm. It is a World War II era weapon. Commander Dave Egeler of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that it does still operate.

Short on details, the story doesn't exactly say HOW he managed to buy it over the web. I assume it was a person-to-person transaction since no FFL would ever just ship it (or any gun) to an individual.

If you read the whole thing, his school is unconcerned about it but local cops are... Here in Vermont, you can own anything; there are no laws against owning automatics other than whatever the federal regulations are.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at June 25, 2005 06:54 AM

Comments

Not only is the story "short on details" -- several of the few details it has are blatantly wrong.

1) The pictured gun is not a Sten, it's a German MP40, commonly called a Schmeisser. Which bears very little resemblance to a Sten. Pretty much the only thing they have in common is the caliber - both fired 9mm Para ammunition.

2) Neither the Schmeisser nor the Sten is a "machine gun." They're both submachine-guns, an entirely different class of weapon.

Posted by: wolfwalker at June 25, 2005 11:58 AM

Glad I'm not the only one that noticed that - the odd thing is that the MP-40 is often referred to as a "Schmeisser" even though Hugo Schmeisser had absolutely nothing to do with the design and manufacture of the weapon (he designed the MP-18, the MKb.42, MP-43, and MP-44 which was later renamed the STG-44 and was the first actual intermediate cartridge assault rifle.

As for this news item, I am terribly skeptical that this kid bought a functioning subgun on the net. I'd bet big bank that he bought a templated receiver (http://www.prexis.com/sten/10.htm), finished it up with dremel tool, and assembled it with a parts kit available from any one of a number of dealers. I think this is just the sort of sloppy reporting we firearms enthusiasts should be used to by now.

Posted by: Gregory Markle at June 26, 2005 04:30 AM

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June 25, 2005

Kid Buys Machine Gun on Web

By Golly, you're reading an archived post. Click Here to head to the main page and read current stuff...

Check it out:

My group sci-fi blog novel:

Colony: Alchibah