'The general public tends to follow trends in law enforcement,' Dorman said. Curtis Dorman, a firearms instructor for the Brevard County Sheriff's Office, said it is the paramilitary-style, semi-automatic rifles, as opposed to semi-automatic hunting rifles with wood stocks and scopes, that have 'grown in popularity.'

'There have been no crimes documented as being committed with a registered machine gun.'Ĭrittenden estimates there are 300 to 500 automatic weapons in private hands in Brevard County alone. 'I consider we don't have anything in this store that people need. You're paying your money and getting your grins.'Ĭrittenden, licensed to deal in automatic weapons, keeps a couple for people to fire at his indoor range. The Thompson is 'an adult toy,' Crittenden said.

45-caliber machine gun, 'a real piece of Americana,' says Gordon Crittenden, 40, co-owner of Action Gun Outfitters in Melbourne. 45-caliber submachine gun the MAC-11, a 9mm version the AR15 assault rifle, similar to the M16 used in Vietnam the British military's Sten Gun or the original Thompson. To stop one of its rounds would require two inches of steel, 13.7 inches of concrete, 47 inches of wet sand, or 59 inches of oak logs or packed earth. Today, with about $1,200, buyers who have passed the federal screening can pick up an Israeli-made 9mm Uzi submachine gun that empties its 30-round magazine in less than three seconds. The aim of the 1968 Gun Control Act was to prohibit ownership of a weapon - commonly used in the commission of a crime - with a barrel of less than 18 inches, so short it could be hidden under a coat.īut that 'was passed way before there was an Uzi or an Intratec,' said Simmons, 'when they didn't have 50 different kinds' of concealable semi- automatic and automatic rifles and handguns. 'Someone needs to study whether we need to do this for 100 years from now.'Īlmost two decades ago, Congress passed a law banning sawed-off shotguns. 'If someone decided they wanted to change all this, if you wanted to reduce the number of weapons in the hands of the people, it would take extensive legislation,' said Palm Bay Police Chief Charles Simmons. Hegerfeld said that it eventually took four days for several ATF bureaus to learn the details on Cruse's background. 'No amount of checking could have kept those guns from that man,' says Mike Hegerfeld, resident agent in charge at the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Orlando. A felony aggravated assault charge filed against him in Kentucky several years before - when he shot and wounded a family friend - had been reduced to a misdemeanor through plea-bargaining.Ī month after buying the gun, Cruse grabbed his Ruger, plenty of ammunition and went on a rampage, shooting 18 people, killing six, before surrendering to Palm Bay police on April 23.

The form asked if he ever had been convicted of a felony. The penalty for falsifying the forms is up to five years' imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.Īlthough Cruse indeed had spent time in a mental hospital, he truthfully answered no, because he had admitted himself.

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