The mentally ill man who opened fire at a Carson City IHOP restaurant, killing four and then himself, shot 60 rounds from a Norinco Mak 90 assault weapon. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
@WiL

The Mak 90, a Chinese-made modified version of the Russian-made AK-47, had been altered to function as an automatic weapon, said Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong in a statement released early today. The details on the weapon followed a monthlong investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“The alteration was described by ATF as professionally gunsmithed by an unknown person,” Furlong said in the statement. “The

possession of this weapon in its manufactured state (semi-automatic) is not prohibited by Nevada State Law.”

Eduardo Sencion walked into the IHOP on the morning of Sept. 6 and fired apparently randomly at customers, killing three Nevada National Guardsmen and a South Lake Tahoe woman. He had a history of mental illness – his family said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia — and had been taken into custody by the South Lake Tahoe police in 2000 under California’s involuntary commitment law.

No background check was conducted when he purchased the gun, Furlong said. Nevada law allows for private sales of weapons without background checks on the buyer, Furlong said.

“It has been unlawful since 1934 (National Firearms Act) for civilians to own machine guns without special permission from the U.S. Treasury Department,” Furlong’s statement said. “Machine guns are subject to a tax every time their ownership changes from one federally registered owner to another, and each weapon is subject to tax when it is made and it must be registered with ATF.

“The state of Nevada provides no further restrictions than those imposed by the federal government that are pertinent to the IHOP incident.”

Officials also found a Romarm AK-47 semi-automatic rifle and a Glock semi-automatic handgun in Sencion’s vehicle. These two weapons were in “manufacturer condition,” Furlong said.

“The Carson City Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate the source of weapon alterations and the identities of those who owned the weapon previous to Sencion,” Furlong said.
RGJ