Las Vegas gunman had devices that make weapons automatic
Police say Stephen Paddock had up to 23 weapons in his hotel room and controversial ‘bump’ stocks
A day after 59 people were killed and more than 500 wounded at a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert, police said they had recovered an arsenal of at least 42 weapons stashed in the gunman’s car, house and hotel room.
The sound of gunfire captured on videos recorded during the massacre indicates that Stephen Paddock used at least one automatic machine gun, a type of firearm that is highly regulated in the United States though a fairly common find at gun shows and firing ranges, including one near Las Vegas that allows customers to shoot military-grade weapons.
It was unclear how Paddock would have acquired a fully automatic weapon. But those weapons can be legally owned if made before May 1986 and registered with the federal government, or owned by licensed dealers.
But Paddock is said to have had two ‘bump’ stocks that could have converted semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic ones.
The devices have attracted scrutiny in recent years from authorities.