Killer used banned rifle purchased in Nevada
Officials say Santino William Legan legally bought an ‘AK-47 variant’ this year.
The gunman in the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting used a military-style semiautomatic rifle that is illegal to own in California, although authorities have not publicly identified the specific type of weapon, according to officials Monday.
Authorities initially said the weapon used was the WASR-10, a Romanian-built weapon that looks like an AK-47 and is considered an assault rif le under California law and therefore banned.
However, Monday evening, they corrected that statement and said the rifle the gunman used was an “AK-47 variant.” A federal weapons expert was not familiar with the company that manufactured the rifle, said San Jose Fire Department spokesman Mitch Matlow.
Authorities say Santino William Legan, 19, bought the weapon this year legally in Nevada. On Monday, Mineral County sheriff’s deputies helped FBI agents search a residence in Walker Lake, Nev., believed to be linked to Legan.
In 2014, then-Gov. Jerry Brown enacted a law requiring anyone who buys a firearm out of state and brings it into California after Jan. 1, 2015, to have it delivered to licensed California dealer and file a report with the state Department of Justice documenting the purchase.
It is the velocity of the round with the rifle that gives it the deadly power.
AB 1609 requires a 10-day waiting period and a background check. Violations are a misdemeanor for long guns, and felonies for handguns.