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Man With 3-D-Printed Gun Had Hit List of Lawmakers, US Says (nytimes.com)
A Dallas man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday after the authorities caught him with a partially 3-D-printed rifle and what federal prosecutors described as a hit list of lawmakers in his backpack. From a report: The man, Eric Gerard McGinnis, had been under a court order that prohibited him from possessing a firearm when he was discovered to have had the partially printed AR-15-style rifle in July 2017, according to a statement from the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas. Mr. McGinnis, 43, was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, prosecutors said. A jury later convicted him on both counts.
Prosecutors said in their statement that police officers had arrested Mr. McGinnis after hearing three shots he had apparently fired in a wooded area just outside of Dallas. They also discovered a list in his backpack labeled "9/11/2001 list of American Terrorists." The list included the office and home addresses of "several federal lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican," the statement said. Prosecutors did not reveal the names on Mr. McGinnis's list, but at the sentencing hearing on Wednesday they disclosed that a forensic analysis of his electronic devices suggested that Mr. McGinnis "had a strong interest" in James T. Hodgkinson, the man who the authorities say shot and wounded Representative Steve Scalise and several others at a congressional baseball practice in June 2017.
Prosecutors said in their statement that police officers had arrested Mr. McGinnis after hearing three shots he had apparently fired in a wooded area just outside of Dallas. They also discovered a list in his backpack labeled "9/11/2001 list of American Terrorists." The list included the office and home addresses of "several federal lawmakers, both Democrat and Republican," the statement said. Prosecutors did not reveal the names on Mr. McGinnis's list, but at the sentencing hearing on Wednesday they disclosed that a forensic analysis of his electronic devices suggested that Mr. McGinnis "had a strong interest" in James T. Hodgkinson, the man who the authorities say shot and wounded Representative Steve Scalise and several others at a congressional baseball practice in June 2017.
>> James T. Hodgkinson, the man who the authorities say shot and wounded Representative Steve Scalise
I didn't realize there was any doubt about this.
Thank you for being a friend.
Travel down the road and back again.
Your heart is true, you're a pal and a cosmonaut.
And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew.
You would see the biggest gift would be from me
and the card attached would say,
thank you for being a friend.
I suspect this was a machined lower - possibly using a ghost-gunner.
CNC machines, while computer-controlled and similar in utility, are not really 3d printers. A 3d printer is generally an "additive manufacturing" device, whereas a CNC machine is subtractive.
Texas has no gun registration laws and it's not illegal to manufacture your own gun or gun parts...
Sounds like he's a true American hero tbh
Yaaaaaay Commiefornia!
Wow. Slashdot is a cesspool now.
No, you see he's not an ILLEGAL ALIEN, or MUSLIM, so any mass murder (or attempts thereof) don't count.
"The prospective purchase was rejected after a background check flagged the order, prosecutors said."
The system works when properly used. The key is NICS data being accurate.
cesspool
I have a 3D printer. When talking about it with someone new, the first question is almost always something along the lines of, "Have you printed a gun yet?"
No. No I haven't.
You know that they do.
ATF agent: “Controls to determine if an individual is prohibited from purchasing firearms and ammunition worked.”
For significantly poor definitions of working.
This story must be missing details?
Why was he arrested and had all his belongings and "devices" searched?
Because police heard gunshots in the woods? Something doesn't make sense
When you're employed (knowingly or not; paid or not) to serve, under a false flag, as a living argument for outlawing 3d printers or whatever, to keep the weapons industry in power, then nobody cares if it's just allegedly right now.
That's only there to be used later, so he can be shown to be innocent and get back out unharmed, when the job is done.
Yeah, that's literally a theory about a conspiracy. :) ... and reasonably assuming, based on the facts that 1. this was documented to be used by the Nazis (against the Resistance) and Stalin, and 2. there are tons of corporations working for the military and their bosses of course meet and know each other like in any business (which by itself if of course OK and normal), ... it's more like conspiracy realism nowadays, to default to this assumption. :)
But given what I read from the NSA leaks, where this (injecting moles as false flag agents provocateurs, to divide the group with infighting and make them do stupid discrediting things) was done to 43 organizations in one year alone, including Occupy and the Tea Party,
Anyway... it's not like anyone of us will ever know the truth anyway. So why bother? All that matters is those that we physically have contact with, and their actions.
If somebody threatens you "because laws/rules", and his actions are unjust, then the laws/rules don't matter. They are only words. What matters is *his actions.* He's the one to bother with. Be it the worst imaginable North Korean prison torturer or the most noble imaginable US policeman.
Technically, it's correct to say it is unregistered, if there is no register.
But yeah, it's very obvious why it was written that way.
"9/11/2001 list of American Terrorists."
I don't advocate shooting people, but he's not wrong. Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers have used 9/11 as an excuse to destroy our civil rights, shred the 4th amendment, and instill a culture of fear and Stasi-esque mass surveillance.
You know what kills more people than 9/11? Heart disease does. And it does so every two days. And again over the next 2 days, and the next nonstop, year after year.
We need to restore a govt "by and for the people" which we have not had in a long long time.
Contradiction:
Did he have a partially "printed" (rather "milled") firearm or was it a completed one? If it was an incomplete firearm, how did he manage to fire it?
Producing a firearm (milling the receiver) is not illegal (https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/does-individual-need-license-make-firearm-personal-use) - but possessing one is. He was convicted of illegal manufacturing among other things. Why?
Coincidence:
A guy produces their own firearm, goes in the forest and fires three shots. By pure coincidence, a cop is nearby and despite this being Texas the gun-friendly state finds three shots somewhere in the woods noteworthy enough to investigate and despite this being Texas the big state also manages to find and arrest that exact guy. And despite going in the woods for what was probably testing the illegally possessed rifle, that guy by pure coincidence also had some kind of hit list of his targets on his person.
So this is either a false flag operation to criminalize the 3d CNC mills or a "parallel construction" case where police has been given illegally obtained and inadmissible evidence to "discover" something "by chance" that then is admissible in court.
here we go again with the 3D printed guns crap...
Government hit job on the guy. They just wanted him put away because he was making 3d gun prints available. They are fighting that like a plague. Too late however, I have a copy and I'm sure many others do. Once on the internet always on the internet.
He's innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, no matter the amount of pre-trial coverage
There is no meaningful dispute as to whether he was the shooter. Guilt or innocence in a court of law is an entirely separate discussion. He could in principle be found innocent despite there being no dispute as to whether he committed the acts for which he was arrested.
Today a man was imprisoned in Texas for the unlawful possession of a firearm which had a 3D printed component along with a list of potential targets which included lawmakers.
He could have saved some time and money if he had seen "The Jackel" where the antagonist cuts up a chopping block to make a nylon zip gun. How did he think he was going to get the rounds through the metal detectors with all of that brass and lead? He would have an easier time buying a truck and driving it through their collective houses as there is no waiting period or background check.
How can someone who live in a properous country such as the US, end up like an idea like printing a gun and killing a few lawmakers.... I mean, you have to realise that doing that wont solve anything.... even if you killed a few lawmakers they would be replaced by someone else who would most probably continue his work. But my real question is how can someone be sooo disapointed... or disillusioned by society... or whatever emotion that person was feeling to end up with this solution... I mean ... Killing someone wont change a thing,,,, what kind of mental path did he take ... how was he thinking to finish up with... ok my ONLY WAY is to kill those guys...
How bad can it get in the US?
I thought this was TX, and I don't believe you have to 'register' your firearms there, right?
Texas generally is pretty relaxed about gun ownership (shocking I know) but in some cases they do require registration according to federal laws.
Specifically
"Texas Penal Code Section 46.05 requires that "explosive weapons", "machine guns", "short-barrel firearms", and "firearm silencers", as defined in Section 46.01, be "registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or classified as a curio or relic by the United States Department of Justice". Prior to May 22nd 2015, Section 46.05 called "registration pursuant to the National Firearms Act" a "defense to prosecution".
Anyway, with that in mind, I'm curious of the law they convicted him of on that front.
I think what happened was that he was legally barred from possessing firearms due to a 2015 court order. Didn't matter how the firearm was acquired, he wasn't allowed to have it due to prior convictions.
Texas has no gun registration laws
Not entirely true. Texas law is fairly relaxed on gun registration but there are some types required to registered to comply with federal law. Gun registration was not the issue here. He wasn't allowed to possess a gun of any description due to a 2015 court order.
and it's not illegal to manufacture your own gun or gun parts...
Generally true though here are some legal issues and they cannot make one that cannot be detected by metal detectors or similar scanning devices. Despite personal use manufacture largely being permitted legally it does not permit someone prohibited from possessing a firearm to carry one which seem to be the case here.
The important features are:
a) printed gun
b) list of lawmakers
If anything is going to get a bill through congress on restricting printed guns this is it.
Contradiction: Did he have a partially "printed" (rather "milled") firearm or was it a completed one? If it was an incomplete firearm, how did he manage to fire it?
He printed the lower receiver, which is the controlled part of the rifle. He then completed assembling the rifle using commercially produced parts. Hence "partially printed" = not all the parts were 3D printed
Producing a firearm (milling the receiver) is not illegal (https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/does-individual-need-license-make-firearm-personal-use) - but possessing one is. He was convicted of illegal manufacturing among other things. Why?
The article doesn't say he was convicted of illegal manufacturing, but according to another article, he *was* convicted of possessing a unregistered Short-Barreled Rifle. Manufacturing an unregistered SBR is usually a separate offense.
Show me on the 1st Amendment bobblehead where the moderator touched you...
He would have printed more, but the cyan cartridge ran out and the printer wouldn't print the rest of the gun.
He was arrested after testing out his 3D printed gun. If he had just bought a real gun, there would have been no need to test, and he wouldn't have been caught then. 3D printing guns saved lives.
That could've been the end of legal unrestricted 3D printing right there!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
How can someone who live in a properous country such as the US, end up like an idea like printing a gun and killing a few lawmakers....
Crazy people are in every country. The US is no exception. Prosperity does not change this fact.
I mean, you have to realise that doing that wont solve anything.... even if you killed a few lawmakers they would be replaced by someone else who would most probably continue his work.
Logic does not mean much to someone who is mentally unstable or otherwise incapable of reason. Stop trying to figure out how he logically could have behaved the way he did because logic had little to do with it. His brain was not functioning in a healthy manner.
The real problem is that it's very difficult to identify people like this in advance in an accurate, objective, and fair way so that you can keep firearms out of their hands. Many gun rights advocates like to say we should be dealing with mental health rather than restricting gun possession to improve safety. This is a reasonable and logical argument from a false premise because it presumes we can accurately identify individuals who are not mentally well prior to them acting in a manner that shows them to be a danger either to others or to themselves. We demonstrably cannot do this - no one can unless we develop mind reading technology. By the time they pull a trigger, it's far too late but we have no means to help them all earlier.
How bad can it get in the US?
If history is any judge, pretty bad. While in general the US is a very safe place to live, there are places you definitely don't want to be. While unlikely, your chances of dying by firearm in the US are quite a bit higher than most large industrialized nations. We can debate the reasons for this but the fact remains that your odds of dying from a firearm are alarmingly high and dealing with the problem rationally is politically challenging.
What? You didn't get your free hip-waders and gas-mask at the door? Remember to change those filters, folks.
Where's he get the gun, since it was illegal for him to buy it? Will the seller be charged?
The 3-D printed aspect is stupid, he 3-D printed attachments to a gun, the headline leads one to believe he 3-D printed himself a gun, but hey, it's a msmash story, so inaccurate/misleading headlines are the norm... sadly.
Ken
He had a bipartisan hit list, he honestly could just have been fed up with politicians no matter their party affiliation.
Ken
He'll never be found innocent in a court of law, they don't assess innocence in a court of law just whether or not he is guilty.
They absolutely do assess innocence in a court of law. In fact it is the default presumption under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is firmly established from the US Constitution via the 5th, 6th, and 14th amendments as well as extensive case law. The entire point of a court is to determine guilt or innocence insofar as that is possible. If the accused is not found guilty then by default they are considered innocent. You can get pedantic about the distinction between "not guilty" and "innocent" but de-facto they have the same outcome so it's a distinction without a difference. If they aren't found guilty then they are de-facto innocent as a practical matter. This is true even if they acknowledge having committed the act leading the the indictment.
To be clear the court is assessing whether there is sufficient evidence to find a violation of a law. If insufficient evidence is presented then the accused is considered innocent. Being guilty of a act is not necessarily the same as being guilty of a crime.
That said, there is meaningful dispute as to whether he was the shooter or not.
No there is not. Every bit of available evidence points to him being the shooter and there is no credible evidence to the contrary. If you have such evidence please post it and I'll reconsider.
Now before you go saying anything about crazy conspiracy. I'm not alleging or asserting any of that or trying to raise any suspicion.I'm invoking the general principle of trying to always keep an open mind.
Hogwash. You are invoking some serious tin-foil hat stuff to try to make a weak point. We can keep an open mind about his guilt in the incident and we can keep an open mind about where the evidence leads and what to do with it. But I'm not about to play stupid and pretend that every bit of evidence does anything except point to this man having committed this violent act.
Even if convicted in a court of law it is better to view it as the court or jury finding him guilty than "he did it."
Nobody is disputing whether or not he did it. Guilt in the crime is a separate discussion though a moot one given that he died.
The gun wasn't 3D printed, a couple of the easily fabricated parts were.
You're a hateful and pathetic lump of shit. Scalise is a person with honor. You're just an asshole.
His guns make him free.. SO FREE!
It just works so well...
"Producing a firearm (milling the receiver) is not illegal (https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/does-individual-need-license-make-firearm-personal-use) - but possessing one is. He was convicted of illegal manufacturing among other things. Why?"
He printed a lower and assembled it into a short-barrel rifle, an SBR can be made for personal use but does require a serial, registration with the BATFE and paying of a tax as an NFA firearm. He was nailed by Texas rather than feds because Texas has a statute requiring you to follow the NFA requirements and it explicitly mentioned the requirement for SBRs.
"By pure coincidence, a cop is nearby and despite this being Texas the gun-friendly state finds three shots somewhere in the woods noteworthy enough to investigate and despite this being Texas the big state also manages to find and arrest that exact guy."
That wouldn't really be that big a coincidence. Where I grew up in IL nobody cared too much about what farmers would do on their own land but if you were shooting off rounds there was still a good chance you'd encounter a sheriff or more likely a ranger who you will find out with a quickness is also a state police officer and can bust you for more than just hunting. In general rangers aren't as gung ho to bust everybody for everything (especially the ones who police wilds outside of actual parks) but they will get their panties in a twist rather quickly when it comes to being a jackass with a firearm.
I guarantee you that a lot of people without 3D printed guns have hit lists of lawmakers. 65,853,514 likely have one with at least one name on it.
You appear to be be strongly on one political side on this topic. The odd thing is I can't actually tell *which* side you are strongly on. Would you care to enlighten me?
SJW n. One who posts facts.
I thought you were supposed to carry a gun for exactly this purpose.
It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
...with the truth floating on top...
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
Carries a hit list on them? Is he going to forget who he wants to kill?
Maybe take off the MAGA hat; it does nothing for your public image of intelligence. If it is also going to automatically make you guilty of crimes... then the smart thing to do is to take off the hat.
But that takes smarts, something we have already established that MAGA supporters have too little of.