@FBI why include that Paddock had NFA firearms at Mandalay Bay when you previously said they were bumpstocks (and thus weren’t machine guns until after the bumpstock rule?) What NFA did he have? @ATFHQ any comment? @dcodrea pic.twitter.com/fVZ0A2YS60
— Stephen (@Stambo2A) October 1, 2022
U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “@FBI why include that Paddock had NFA firearms at Mandalay Bay when you previously said they were bumpstocks (and thus weren’t machine guns until after the bumpstock rule?)” attorney Stephen Stamboulieh tweeted Saturday.
“What NFA [weapon] did he have?”
“@ATFHQ any comment?” he asked.
Included with Stamboulieh’s tweet was an embedded copy of “Stephen Paddock: Part 0I” from FBI Records: The Vault.
“The Vault is our new FOIA Library, containing 6,700 documents and other media that have been scanned from paper into digital copies so you can read them in the comfort of your home or office,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation explains.
What’s not explained is a curious claim made on page 3 of the “Paddock” report dated 10/02/2017:
“On or around October 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Stephen Paddock, DOB 4/9/1953, illegally possessed prohibited firearms [emphasis added] in violation of 26 U.S.C. Section 5841. Paddock utilized prohibited firearms in the mass shooting incident that took place on Las Vegas Boulevard (the Strip) in which 50 people were killed and over 500 people were injured.”
26 U.S.C. Section 5841 is the code section for the “central registry of all firearms in the United States which are not in the possession or under the control of the United States. This registry shall be known as the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.”
That puts the exclamation point to Stamboulieh’s question because the shootings have been widely blamed on “bump stocks,” which were not reclassified as machineguns or banned at the time the FBI made its observations.
The bottom line is “bump stocks,” which were “legal” at the time, could not have been the “illegally possessed prohibited firearms” referred to in the “Paddock” report. So what weapon/s are they referring to?
Confusion is further compounded by a PowerPoint presentation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives that it was “not allowed to physically examine the interior of the weapons for machinegun fire-control components or known machinegun conversion devices such as Drop-In Auto Sears, Lightning Links, etc.” recovered from the Las Vegas shooter’s hotel room.
A Freedom of Information Act Request filed by Stamboulieh representing firearms designer Len Savage yielded even more confusing and conflicting admissions:
An ATF Firearms Enforcement Officer … has not yet been provided access to conduct a full examination.
“…the ATF FEO has not been able to conduct a full examination of them at this time.”
“I CANNOT FURTHER COMMENT ON THE BUMP-TYPE DEVICES RECOVERED IN THIS CASE AT THIS TIME AS THE PROCESSING AND ASSESSMENT OF EVIDENCE ONGOING, INCLUDING WHETHER OR HOW THE FIREARMS WITH BUMP STOCKS WERE USED// [capitalization and bold text emphasis in original.]
More from Len Savage;
“ATF did not disclose that they had not examined the firearms prior to promulgating the rule,” Savage noted in response. “And now that the comment period is closed … that information can not be used in a court challenge because it was not submitted prior to the closing of comments.
“From what we got from ATF in our FOIA years back the photos show NO third pinhole,” Savage recalled. “Bump stocks at the time were not NFA, so that leaves either a drop in auto sear or ‘DIAS’ or possibly a what is known as a ‘Swift link’ a very simplistic but effective conversion device.”
So, why highlight this, and what is this writer claiming…that bump stocks attached to some of the recovered guns weren’t used?
For the record, I’m not claiming anything. It is and was, every other MSM media outlet claiming that bump stocks were responsible for the death toll and that fact somehow “justified” banning them and ordering lawfully-obtained property to be confiscated or destroyed.
All I’m doing here is repeating what ATF has said and comparing it to what the FBI has said, and noting that with all the inconsistencies, unanswered questions, and suspicions of official cover-up still hanging over the Las Vegas shootings, here is a thread that major media investigative journalists and congressional inquirers, people with influence and reach, could pull to see what unravels.
If they wanted to.
vault.fbi.gov/stephen-paddock/stephen-paddock-part-01.pdf/view
Read Related: Review Route 91:
- Uncovering the Cover Up, 2017 Las Vegas Shooting
- Las Vegas Shooting Initial Report | Luggage, Rifles, Revolver & Ammo
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
At a time when the democrat party had absolutely NO POWER to stop concealed carry reciprocity, the hearing protection act, and the courts were about to look at the Maryland “assault weapons” ban and “high capacity magazine” ban, conveniently, the Vegas TERRORIST ACT! DEEP STATE BLACK OP! All of a sudden, advancing of any “gun rights” became UNTENABLE! The democrat party had, at that point, made HUGE advances in overcoming the Second Amendment, especially after Sandy Hook, with “assault weapon” bans in progressive states. They were on the verge of losing it all, with no political power to stop it.… Read more »
500 people injured? Really.? 500 people?
I’m sorry, I don’t believe that.. even if this was a completely different rendition of what was told that happened, even if they did have a SAW or 240 up there….500 people?
It sounds heavily inflated to me.
But of course, that’s just one item of the host of trickeries..
Oldvet –Well it’s possible they didn’t even try the door before they kicked it in.
And funny how not much was said about the helicopters I SAW.
Who gave Randy Weaver the wrong court date?
What happened to the doors of the Branch Davidians’ Mount Carmel compound?
Why did the FBI ignore the MSDS covering the gas used that OSHA rules would have required every agent handling or working around the canisters to be trained on?
In the absence of verifiable facts, conspiracy theories sprout and flourish like weeds. A neutral observer might conclude that FIB and AFT were growing them as a cash crop.
One might reason that the FBI and government never heard of the concept of ex post facto, not surprising as to who is involved.
Two things make me suspicious of the bump stock narrative. The BATFE was never allowed to examine the guns seized in evidence. The FIB had the guns and showed them to the BATFE from across the room. The guns were immediately shredded afterwards. I’ve heard both M-16s firing in full auto and I’ve heard bump stocks firing. That was no bump stock firing in Las Vegas. I have no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the Las Vegas massacre it smells like an FIB sting gone bad. I’d like to think that the FIB would not resort to mass murder to… Read more »