Media Matters pivots, in order to double down on Gadahn's 'fully automatic' lie

St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner ^ | 7 June, 2011 | Kurt Hofmann

[marktwain]

People with any familiarity with guns raised an amused eyebrow at American-born Al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn's claim that at gun shows in the U.S., one could buy "a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card." Fully automatic firearms are, of course, very heavily regulated in the U.S.

The inconvenient little fact of Gadahn's lie was not enough to stop various "gun control" groups from milking this new "crisis" for all it's worth (although they did eventually start to simply omit mention of the "fully automatic" part). Rabidly anti-gun journalist Cliff Schecter (who has been discussed here a lot lately) went so far as to call one gun rights advocate a "moron" and "idiot," for having the temerity to talk about the inaccuracy of the "fully automatic" claim, instead of talking about what Cliff thought was more important.

Then, blogger Thirdpower elicited the claim from Colin "The Alchemist" Goddard, that one could easily purchase "conversion kits" at gun shows, thus making (apparently) the "fully automatic assault rifle" claim at least effectively true (kinda, sorta).

It looked as if Goddard's "conversion kit" story would pass with no more than another round of guffaws for gun rights advocates, until Media Matters decided to run with that angle (with cheerleading from the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence), pivoting the conversation from "fully automatic assault rifles," to "conversion kits":

Conversion manuals are easily found online and a General Accountability Office investigation found that investigators were able to obtain all of the parts necessary to convert a semi-automatic AR-15 to a fully automatic M-16 at gun shows in five states. Conversion kits are quite popular at gun shows.

That second link is to a Violence Policy Center (VPC) "study," from over 10 years

[marktwain]

As conservatives gain a little bit of media, the MSM cannot lie as easily.

[Anti-Bubba182]

http://www.titleii.com/bardwell/atf_letter37.txt

                   DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
             Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
                     Washington, D.C. 20226

                           JUN 7 1994

                                        CC-43,723 FE:JBP

MEMORANDUM TO: Special Agent in Charge
               Detroit Field Division

FROM: Associate Chief Counsel
               (Firearms And Explosives)

SUBJECT: Policy Clarification -- Conversion Kits

This is in response to your request for an opinion whether a
machine conversion kit is a "firearm" for purposes of the Gun
Control Act of 1968 (GCA), 18 U.S.C. Chapter 44. You advise that
this opinion is sought by the United States District Court for the
Eastern District of Michigan.

For purposes of the GCA, the term "firearm" is defined in 18 U.S.C.
section 921(a)(3) to mean:

     (A) any weapon (including a starter gun) which will or is
     designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile
     by the action of an explosive; (B) the frame or receiver of
     any such weapon; (C) any firearm muffler or firearm silencer;
     or (D) any destructive device...

Machinegun conversion kits are not among the items defined as
firearms by section 921(a)(3). Therefore, machine gun conversion
kits are not subject to regulation as firearms under the GCA. For
example, a person engaged in the business of dealing only in such
kits would not be required to obtain a license as a dealer in
firearms under the GCA. Also, a person who transferred a
machinegun conversion kit to a felon or other person prohibited
from receiving or possessing firearms would not violate 18 U.S.C.
section 922(d), nor would the prohibited person's receipt or
possession of the kit violate 18 U.S.C. section 922(g).

                              - 2 -

Special Agent in Charge
Detroit Field Division

However, machinegun conversion kits are within the definition of
"machinegun" for purposes of the GCA and are, therefore, subject to
all GCA controls imposed upon "machineguns". For GCA purposes, the
definition of "machinegun" in 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(23)
incorporates the definition of such term in the National Firearms
Act, 26 U.S.C. section 5845(b). As defined by section 5845(b),
"machinegun" means, among other things, "any . . . combination of
parts designed and intended, for use in converting a weapon into a
machinegun", i.e., a machinegun conversion kit. Thus, under the
GCA, a machinegun conversion kit is, for example, a machinegun
subject to the prohibition with respect to possession and transfer
of machineguns in 18 U.S.C. section 922(o) and the prohibition in
18 U.S.C. section (a)(4) against transporting machineguns
interstate without the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury.

Please advise if you have any questions regarding this opinion.

                            [signed]
                        Jack B. Patterson

[Sherman Logan]

A qualified machinist, given the appropriate plans, can no doubt convert a semi to a full auto pretty easily.

But then he can also build a rifle or machine gun from scratch, given the plans, materials and tools.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Headline: Media Smatters mangles another one.

[IMR 4350]

Some of the full auto weapons from WWII wouldn't even take a qualified machinist to make, just a hobbyist in his garage.

Materials for making them could be picked up from a junk yard.

They might not look as good, but it's been proved they definitely will get the job done.

[SnuffaBolshevik]

[Last Dakotan]

Not to worry - there aren’t many qualified machinists left in this country.

[IMR 4350]

Didn't the Brits have designs even simpler than this?

IIRC the design was so simple it was easier to provide the various undergrounds with the plans to build their own than it was to provide the underground with actual weapons.

[Nebr FAL owner]

Yes it was called the sten gun it was literally mad in garages & basement workshops . In Israel it was hand made with basic tools during the war of Independence in 1948.

[IMR 4350]

Thanks, I didn't remember if it was the sten or some Frankenstein design based on the sten.

Crude but effective.

The idiots on the left actually believe they can put the genie back in the bottle.

These type of weapon designs is proof it can't be done. If there comes a point where they are needed again, they will be built in just the same way.

[Peet]

"The semi-automatic weapons' menacing looks, coupled with the public's confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun can only increase that chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons."
                                             -- Josh Sugarman, 1988, Violence Policy Center.

[STD]

Thanks, got any Glock diagrams?