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.

Comments

Alleged?

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> 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.

Re:Alleged?

[cayenne8]

While I"m glad they got this fella...sounds like the unhinged type that should not have a firearm....

I"m a bit puzzled about the charge they convicted him of..."unregistered firearm".

I thought this was TX, and I don't believe you have to 'register' your firearms there, right?

Also, as the law stands federally and in most states, you can make your own firearms, and as long as they are not NFA items (short barreled shotgun, short barreled rifle, etc)....you do NOT have to serialize them, or register them or tell any government entity that you have built and own this weapon.

And for more firearms, like the AR platform...the only normally serialized part of the gun is the lower receiver....which you can 3D print, somewhat these days.

Anyway, with that in mind, I'm curious of the law they convicted him of on that front.

Now, as I understand it, he's not allowed legally to posses any firearm, and that's cool.....but I hope they didn't bend a law that's not applicable to convict him, that presents a dangerous precedent.

Re:Alleged?

[Shaitan]

"Which makes it even more interesting that there was no problem with releasing his name for everyone to know, but the list of politicians on the hitlist was not revealed."

If he is over 18 it is a matter of public record but accusations of crimes really shouldn't be. It allows for exactly what you see here trial in the court of public opinion and the destruction of careers over charges which are ultimately dismissed or for which parties are found not guilty.

Re:Alleged?

[AmiMoJo]

Actually there is another post further down, which I also replied to, that also quotes TFA to make the same point and which was also modded "troll".

It really does appear to be the gun toting snowflakes, a very strange bunch to be sure. That and I've got a mod stalker who systematically mods everything I post as troll until they run out of points, even random jokes about Amazon and the like...

Unregistered Rifle?

[oic0]

Texas has no gun registration laws and it's not illegal to manufacture your own gun or gun parts...

Re:Unregistered Rifle?

[Oh really now]

True on Texas law, that's the way it should be! The sticking point here is reportedly he was already a prohibited person, so his possession of any firearm is illegal.

Re:Unregistered Rifle?

[Anonymous Coward]

You are mistaken.

https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/does-individual-need-license-make-firearm-personal-use
Does an individual need a license to make a firearm for personal use?

No, a license is not required to make a firearm solely for personal use. However, a license is required to manufacture firearms for sale or distribution. The law prohibits a person from assembling a non–sporting semiautomatic rifle or shotgun from 10 or more imported parts, as well as firearms that cannot be detected by metal detectors or x–ray machines. In addition, the making of an NFA firearm requires a tax payment and advance approval by ATF.

[18 U.S.C. 922(o), (p) and (r); 26 U.S.C. 5822; 27 CFR 478.39, 479.62 and 479.105]

https://www.google.com/search?q=laws+on+making+your+own+firearms&oq=laws+on+making+your+own+firearms&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.6230j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
In the US, under Federal law, it is legal to make a firearm for your own use. It has to be a firearm that is not regulated under NFA. This means it can't be fully automatic, a short barrel shotgun, a short barrel rifle, or a disguised gun of some sort.

Re: Unregistered Rifle?

[chiefcrash]

In this particular case, the problem was that it was an unregistered short barreled rifle

Registration of those *is* required, even in Texas...

Re: Unregistered Rifle?

[chiefcrash]

A short barreled rifle, as the name might suggest, is a rifle with a short barrel. To be more specific, it is a shoulder-fired, rifled firearm, made from a rifle, with a barrel length of less than 16 in (41 cm) or overall length of less than 26 in (66 cm), or a handgun fitted with a buttstock and a barrel of less than 16 inches length.

Much like sawed-off shotguns or machine guns, these sorts of firearms have extra regulations attached to their legal ownership: you must pay a $200 tax, pass an expanded background check, seek local law enforcement approval, etc...

As for why it matters enough to slap a bunch of extra restrictions on it.... your guess is as good as mine. Best theory is in the 1930s it was thought that rifles and shotguns were being sawed off by criminals for easy concealment for their use. Whether this was a response to real crime or just crime shown in the movies is open to argument. Oddly, the Supreme Court ruled that such short-barreled rifles weren't constitutionally protected due to them lacking a military usefulness.... (oddly, it is now the "military style" guns being targeted for extra restrictions...)