Suspected Shooter Used Legal Device In Las Vegas Attack
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Suspected gunman Stephen Paddock rained down a shower of death on the concert-goers in Las Vegas earlier this week, hundreds of rounds per minute from more than a dozen rifles on the ready in his Mandalay Bay hotel room.
The weapons are much like the semi-automatic rifles for sale at A-Advantage Firearms in Shaler Township.
They're designed to fire one round per trigger pull; but according to the Associated Press, Paddock modified at least some of his rifles with a legal device called a "bump stock," which allows shooters to peal off up to 400 rounds per minute.
You can learn how to install a "bump stock" and order one on the internet.
But the devices cannot be purchased at A-Advantage Firearms, owned by Rick Genser. He is a Vietnam veteran whose family has been selling guns for generations.
KDKA's Andy Sheehan: "You don't sell a bump stock?"
Genser: "Don't sell them, never did. They're available on the internet. You don't need a gun store to do that."
A sportsman and a marksman, Genser won't sell bump stocks or automatic weapons, but he doesn't believe in banning them either.
He says they'll always be available on the black market. Rather, he says, the better idea is keeping them out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them.
"We don't sell a firearm to somebody that we feel is not qualified, or their eyes are blurry, or whatever reason, they don't seem like they're 100 percent. We won't sell it. Refuse to sell it," says Genser.
While Genser doesn't believe in new laws, he'd like to see tougher enforcement of the ones we have.
"I think they should stiffen the penalty for breaking the law, and stand by it. Don't give somebody 20 year and let them out in six months," he says. "If they're scared you might think twice."