Former Las Vegas officer says modified semi-automatic guns show "greater intent"
Police have identified Stephen Paddock as the shooter who gunned down concertgoers Sunday night in what quickly became the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The attack on the Las Vegas country music concert left at least 58 dead and more than 500 wounded.
According to police, Paddock had 23 guns in his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay and 19 other firearms at his home. It was from that room on the hotel's 32nd floor that he unleashed a torrent of bullets on the crowd watching country singer Jason Aldean perform at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.
CBS News contributor Randy Sutton served in the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for almost 24 years and retired with the rank of lieutenant.
"Apparently the investigation has revealed that these had been semi-automatic weapons. Now, what that demonstrates to me is even a greater intent," Sutton told "CBS This Morning."
Sutton said one of the "big questions" from the start of the investigation was whether the gunman used fully-automatic weapons or modified semi-automatic weapons -- ones made to operate like a fully automatic firearm.
Two officials told the Associated Press that Paddock had two accessories that could have allowed his semi-automatic rifles to fire rapidly and continuously, as if they were fully automatic weapons.
"He purposefully had these weapons modified to be even deadlier than they would be in the capacity that they were originally manufactured," Sutton said. "The difference between a semiautomatic and a full automatic is that when a semi-automatic, every time you depress the trigger, one round comes out. When it's fully automatic, when you press the trigger it continues at a rate of about 400 rounds per minute which is why this death toll was so incredibly high."
Sutton praised Las Vegas police for quickly locating Paddock.
"The fact of the matter is that had they not responded in the efficient manner that they did, the body count would be even higher and that's a startling conclusion."
Nevada is considered to have some of the most lax gun laws in the country. There, you can openly carry a gun without a permit, gun registration is not required and there is no mandated waiting period for firearm purchases.
Nevada also does not have a limit on bulk ammunition sales or magazine capacity – meaning one can fire longer without reloading.