Was machine-gun used in 10-minute killing spree?

Investigators are trying to determine how Stephen Paddock sprayed bullets into a crowd and killed 59 and wounded 527 in just 10 minutes on Sunday night.

Police say they recovered a cache of weapons, including 10 rifles, from the 64-yearold accountant’s room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel overlooking the music festival on the grounds below. Other reports say there were 19 guns, including two rifles with scopes, mounted on tripods. They were set up in front of the two windows in the hotel room, which Paddock had smashed out.

At this point, police say the weapons appear to have been legally purchased but the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is conducting traces on multiple firearms recovered from the scene.

What is still unclear is whether Paddock used a fully automatic or semi-automatic weapon in his killing spree.

His brother, Eric Paddock, believes he used a fully automatic weapon. “He had no automatic weapons that I knew of at any time,” his brother told journalists Monday. “Find out who he bought the machine-guns from.”

A semi-automatic firearm fires one bullet with the squeeze of a trigger. But a fully automatic, or machinegun, can fire continuously until the magazine is emptied of its bullets with the squeeze of the trigger. (In Canada, there are a small number of machine-guns in private hands but no new permits for the ownership of those firearms are being issued. However, private firms, in some cases involved in security work or the film/ special effects business, can be authorized to own fully automatic firearms.)

Private ownership of machine-guns is allowed in certain states in America, including Nevada. But such weapons are expensive and require background checks by law-enforcement agencies.

Eric Paddock said his brother owned a couple of handguns and one rifle. But he had no machine-guns when Eric helped him move to Mesquite, 120 kilometres northeast of Las Vegas.

So how did Paddock obtain a weapon capable of firing so rapidly? If it wasn’t an actual machine-gun it could have been a semi-automatic firearm equipped with a device that allows rapid fire. Both types are legal in the U.S.

One uses a crank bolted onto the trigger. A turn of the crank depresses the trigger, allowing for a number of bullets to be fired with each rotation. It sells online for about US$50.

Another device is called a “bump fire stock.” It modifies a rifle’s stock to use the recoil to fire bullets quickly. One bump fire stock manufacturer informs shooters that maintaining “a light and consistent forward pressure will continue the firing sequence.”

Such devices sell for US$170 and are available from sporting store outlets like Cabela’s. Both devices are illegal in Canada. Paddock could have also had highcapacity magazines capable of holding anywhere between 50 and 100 bullets. These are also illegal in Canada.

Police have traced three of Paddock’s firearms. He had purchased two rifles and a handgun from Guns & Guitars in Mesquite. The transaction was legal and background checks were conducted, according to a statement from the store. It noted that Paddock did not seem “unstable or unfit.”

In a search of his home in Mesquite, police recovered “in excess” of 18 firearms, several thousand rounds of ammunition and explosives, said Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo. In addition, electronic devices were recovered but police are still examining those, he added.