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deminks

(11,156 posts)
Thu May 25, 2023, 07:30 PM May 2023

15 yr old who brought an AR 15 to high school last week had 'lightning link' device

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arizona-high-schooler-ar-15-machine-gun-phoenix-rcna86283?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=646fe4f427c5190001c93f75&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

The 15-year-old accused of bringing an AR-15 to his Phoenix high school last week also allegedly possessed a device that would allow the weapon to function as a fully automatic machine gun, according to court documents exclusively obtained by NBC News.

The boy allegedly brought the device — known as a "lightning link" — along with a disassembled AR-15 and ammunition to Bostrom High School on Friday, according to the probable cause statement. The AR-15 was disassembled into an upper and lower receiver, the two main parts of the gun, according to the probable cause statement.

“When combining the upper, lower receiver and lightning link together they create a prohibited weapon,” it says. An AR-15 is normally a semi-automatic weapon, but the addition of the lightning link would make it fully automatic, meaning it could fire continuously without the shooter having to repeatedly pull the trigger.

(snip)

Police allegedly found the lightning link in the boy’s backpack along with a lower receiver for the rifle with a fully loaded magazine, additional ammunition and firearm-related accessories, it states. The upper receiver was found concealed inside the boy’s sweatpants “with the barrel facing upwards towards the officers” and a live cartridge inside the chamber, according to the document.

(end snip)

Ban assault weapons now.
12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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15 yr old who brought an AR 15 to high school last week had 'lightning link' device (Original Post) deminks May 2023 OP
Never heard of a lightning link TexasDem69 May 2023 #1
from the OP deminks May 2023 #2
I hope they also ask where he got the weapon and ammunition MagickMuffin May 2023 #6
Something different DetroitLegalBeagle May 2023 #3
A bump stock basically uses the gun's recoil to bounce the trigger against the shooter's finger. FoxNewsSucks May 2023 #4
A "bump-stock" basically lets you "spray" a lot of bullets in a hurry, DemocraticPatriot May 2023 #8
Of course this is what the founding fathers intended BOSSHOG May 2023 #5
A legal lightning link easily costs over $10K. LudwigPastorius May 2023 #7
Full-auto weapons are all over the place... albacore May 2023 #9
They are available Zeitghost May 2023 #11
You think the weapons in that video are on commercial ranges...? albacore May 2023 #12
there's more to this piece than what is in the op orleans May 2023 #10

deminks

(11,156 posts)
2. from the OP
Thu May 25, 2023, 07:38 PM
May 2023

snip

Court documents also did not provide additional context about where or how the juvenile obtained the lightning link, a small piece of metal resembling a bent key that can be slipped into the trigger mechanism of the firearm to allow for continual firing by holding the trigger down. Though they have been regulated since 1986, law enforcement officials said there are other ways to mimic the device to skirt regulations.

(end snip)

DetroitLegalBeagle

(2,057 posts)
3. Something different
Thu May 25, 2023, 07:45 PM
May 2023

From my limited understanding, it's a piece of metal bent, cut, and shaped a specific way that allows it to interface with the trigger mechanism and bolt to allow for automatic fire. The problem with them is the designs for them are freely and widely available online and anyone with a piece of sheetmetal, file, and metal cutting tools can make one.

Bumpstocks are externally mounted and allow the person to pull the trigger much faster then they normally would. Which is the basis for the legal challenge against the ban. A machine gun is defined by law to be a gun that fires multiple shots with a single pull of the trigger. A gun with a bumpstock doesn't technically meet that definition because the trigger is still being pulled for each shot, just really fast.

A lightning link does make you pull the trigger multiple times. It let's the gun function just like a real automatic, with a single pull and multiple shots.

FoxNewsSucks

(10,573 posts)
4. A bump stock basically uses the gun's recoil to bounce the trigger against the shooter's finger.
Thu May 25, 2023, 08:50 PM
May 2023

Technically, the trigger is being pulled with each shot.

The guy explaining this is somewhat of a gunhumper, other than those "second amendment" comments, his explanation is good and he relates it to the Vegas massacre carried out by the tRump supporter.



 

DemocraticPatriot

(5,410 posts)
8. A "bump-stock" basically lets you "spray" a lot of bullets in a hurry,
Thu May 25, 2023, 10:14 PM
May 2023

but with very poor aim...


Of course if you are shooting into a crowd of closely-spaced people,
such as the Vegas shooter did, you can hardly miss....

(Guess we should have had something like that in the civil war, in Georgia, South Carolina--

and YES, General Sherman should have turned around, and given TEXAS something like he gave to South Carolina.....)

Texas got off too easy. Those fuckers obviously should have been "taught" a thing or two...


BOSSHOG

(37,926 posts)
5. Of course this is what the founding fathers intended
Thu May 25, 2023, 09:31 PM
May 2023

A fully automatic machine gun used in schools, Churchs, dance halls, wherever to slaughter unarmed victims being necessary for the security of a free state. Ask your patriotic constitutional scholar maga neighbor. They’ll explain it to you.

LudwigPastorius

(9,849 posts)
7. A legal lightning link easily costs over $10K.
Thu May 25, 2023, 10:01 PM
May 2023

Last edited Thu May 25, 2023, 10:37 PM - Edit history (1)

Somehow this kid either bought an unregistered one, or made it himself.

Big no nos, that lead to big boy prison.

albacore

(2,440 posts)
9. Full-auto weapons are all over the place...
Thu May 25, 2023, 10:23 PM
May 2023

Here's some solid citizens.... ammosexuals, every one of them.

Zeitghost

(4,161 posts)
11. They are available
Fri May 26, 2023, 12:40 AM
May 2023

But are extremely expensive to purchase legally (and even more expensive illegally). Most belong to collectors or commercial ranges that rent them out to the curious.

They are expensive novelties for the most part.

orleans

(34,316 posts)
10. there's more to this piece than what is in the op
Thu May 25, 2023, 11:17 PM
May 2023

that i thought was interesting including:




The boy’s mother, who asked not to be identified, told NBC News she and her husband “don’t know where he got the gun from.” She said her son has ADHD and described him as “a little guy, he’s easily influenced, he wants to fit in.” She said that she was not aware of the allegation that he possessed a device to make the weapon fully automatic.

The mother said that nobody in their immediate family owns guns and that her son has never expressed an interest in guns and does not have a criminal history, adding that she and her husband were “in shock” when they heard the allegations he was facing.

“It was your typical Friday morning, we were talking about vacationing for the summer,” she said.

“All of a sudden, later on in the afternoon, I get a call about him being taken by the police regarding a gun that he had on campus,” she said.

She added that her son does not have a lawyer and that he is allowed one phone call a day while in detention.

“We’re just going with the flow, so far so good,” she said.

The boy’s father could not immediately be reached Thursday afternoon.



i hope people read the whole piece
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