Mocked N.Y. laws
Slay suspect boasted of retooling rifle for slaughter
Gun control laws on the books in New York State should have been enough to keep a suspected killer from his murderous weekend hate spree in Buffalo. But loopholes in the law apparently allowed him to pull it off without a hitch.
Accused racist killer Payton Gendron, 18, even went online and explained how he was going to do it.
Authorities said Gendron bought the murder weapon — a Bushmaster XM-15 — legally from Vintage Firearms in Endicott, N.Y. But he used his dad’s power drill to modify the weapon to add an illegal high-capacity magazine.
State law prohibits people under 21 from obtaining a permit for handguns. But long guns, such as the Bushmaster XM-15, can be purchased starting at 18.
“Since I live in New York, I had to buy a cucked version of this before illegally modifying it,’’ Gendron wrote in an 80-page hate-filled manifesto detailing his views and his attack plan. “Since I live in cucked New York, and I am only 18, I can’t legally buy a lower or a standard ‘assault rifle.’ ”
Gendron added that he “could’ve even bought a NY-safe featureless rifle, but what kind of cuck does that?”
Gendron has pleaded not guilty to killing 10 people at the Tops supermarket. According to his manifesto, he chose that store because it was in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Cops said Gendron, of Conklin, drove from “hours away” to reach his target.
State law bars the sale of any magazine that has a capacity of more than 10 rounds. Gov. Hochul said law enforcement was working to determine where the magazines used were acquired, but said they could have been purchased as close as Pennsylvania. Authorities said Gendron, wearing body armor and livestreaming his attack, fired roughly 50 rounds during the attack.
According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, eight states and the District of Columbia have banned “large capacity ammunition magazines” for rifles and handguns. The laws in the District and most of those states — California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Vermont — limit the number of allowable rounds to 10.
Gendron planned ahead for the maximum amount of damage, officials said.
In his rambling screed, the suspect said he deliberately loaded heavier rounds to use in an initial volley to penetrate glass at the front of the supermarket where he expected a security guard would be keeping watch.
He then loaded lighter rounds deeper in the magazine so he could use them to target shoppers and other victims in the store.
Gendron apparently knew enough about ammunition to know that lighter bullets travel faster, potentially tearing through bodies more easily.
The Bushmaster XM-15 is the same model rifle that was used in two other notorious mass shootings.
In 2002, two snipers in Washington, D.C., used the rifle to kill 10 people at random during a monthlong terror spree in and around the nation’s capital.
In 2012, a gunman used the rifle during a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., during which 20 first-graders and six staff members were killed.
Even after he modified it, Gendron apparently did not have full confidence in his rifle. Authorities said he had a Mossberg shotgun and a Savage Axis XP rifle in his car for backup.