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Boston Bombers Had Handguns, M4 and A BB Gun

Robert Farago - comments No comments

 Colt M4 (courtesy neverenuffammo.com)

It seems the Boston bombers had some experience manipulating firearms. In the criminal complaint filed against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev we learn that the accused “pointed a firearm at the victim [of the carjacking] and stated ‘Did you hear about the Boston explosion?’ and ‘I did that.’ The man removed his magazine from the gun and showed the victim it had a bullet in it, and the reinserted the magazine. The man then stated ‘I am serious.” And we’d seriously like to know what firearms the Tsarnaevs used during their killing spree and how they obtained them. In this we are not alone. And now the New York Times has some deets . . .

Along with determining that the suspects had made at least five pipe bombs, the authorities recovered four firearms that they believe the suspects used, according to a law enforcement official. The authorities found an M-4 carbine rifle — a weapon similar to ones used by American forces in Afghanistan — on the boat where the younger suspect was found Friday night in Watertown, Mass., 10 miles west of Boston.

Two handguns and a BB gun that the authorities believe the brothers used in an earlier shootout with officers in Watertown were also recovered, said one official briefed on the investigation. The authorities said they believe the suspects had fired roughly 80 rounds in that shootout, in which Tamerlan Tsarnaev was fatally wounded, the official said.

More information as we receive it.

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “Boston Bombers Had Handguns, M4 and A BB Gun”

    • Well now philly pd knows where that missing rifle went. Now ban philly pd from having “assault weapons”. I thought I would beat MSM to the blame game on the origins of the weapons.

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  1. Why, this information must be impossible!! We all know that in Massasschuets the gun laws PROHIBIT terrorists and criminals from purchasing or possessing firearms. Since their are laws against this, then they would never think to obtain firearms and use them in an illegal manner. (snark)

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  2. Damned criminal immigrants can get an m4 and I have been here all my life, served my country and I can’t get one. Something wrong with that picture.

    First the criminal immigrants took our jobs then they took our guns.

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    • I’m pretty sure that you can get an M4 the same way these guys did (assuming it is, indeed, an actual M4). So long as you’re okay with a shootout with the local SWAT team shortly afterwards…

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  3. Oh good, another reason to dislike this state. I’m born and raised in RI but you wouldn’t know it by certain things I enjoy. You know, fairness, freedom, working for a living, etc.

    I lived in South Carolina for a short time. Some family is still there. Maybe it’s time to think about heading back. The town I have ties to is a bit slow compared to what I’m accustomed to being around. The job situation is the main issue. Moving can often be easier said than done.

    I’m hoping for the best. With Rhode Island’s track record I think we, as gun owners, are going to see a tough and crappy road ahead.

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  4. Love my Millenium PT140 it eats everything i feed it, very comfortable, reliable (thousand or so rounds and only two misfires that fired on “strike two”) and accurate. it also has a fantastic SA/DA trigger.

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  5. Jeff Quinn was very impressed with it as well; of course, there don’t seem to be any guns that he doesn’t like, so . . .

    Nice demonstration of the trigger pull!

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  6. Someone somewhere is training to kill you”
    Someone somewhere is training to kill you:. “Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimum food or water, in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon. He doesn’t worry about what workout to do—his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him. The True Believer doesn’t care ‘how hard it is’; he knows he either wins or he dies. He doesn’t go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the ‘Cause.’ Now, who wants to quit

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  7. Wow, getting that article was actually unbearable. The comments were more well written. Seriously, turn the lame wittiness down about 99 percent. Therefore was able one paragraph of useful information there.

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  8. I was wondering about the 6+1 mentions too. I picked up a New Agent (for $600 – Best deal ever) and mine came with two 7 rounders. That’s part of the appeal for me. 8 total rounds. It’s a Colt. It’s super concealable. Good to know it feeds other mags though, I’ve been looking into getting spares.

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  9. Knives in NYC are as common as legal gun ownership is uncommon. Born and raised in Brooklyn, I was all of 11 years old when first nabbed by school security for pulling a knife, (given to me by my dad) in my schoolyard against a pair of teen thugs trying to take my coat. When my dad picked me up, he was advised I would be penalized with a 3 day suspension. The school returned the knife, a 3.5 inch folder to my dad. He took me to breakfast, where he blew my mind by returning the knife to me, saying-‘well done, don’t take no shit from anyone.’ To this day, my eyes get misty when I think of the trust my dad had in me at such a young age. I carried a blade every day after that while in NYC, and still do today-whether I have a gun on me or not.

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  10. Hmmmmm somewhere along the way here I missed the memo about how every manhunt now involved multiple juris-my-dik-tions blasting away at anything that moved…was that in the NYT last week? /sarc off

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  11. Interesting that they used “M4” and not AR-15, Also interesting that they mentioned American forces in Afghanistan and not the standard “Just like the one used by Newtown shooter Adam Lanza to murder 20 children and 6 adults in December” just like the media has on every other story where this gun is mentioned. Curious.

    Also, am I the only one that secretly hopes it is the same gun stolen from the Philly PD? That would be amusing.

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  12. The article is outdated, but the problem with the hoplophobes remains the same. They fear everything and know nothing but another turn of the screws. Never mind that the threads were stripped a long time ago.

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  13. He’s one of the worst football writers/NFL shills around (Kisses Goodell’s buttocks all the time). I can’t stand reading his dreck of nothing. Now SI is going to give him his own website? I typically read the KissingSuzyKolber website takedown of King’s weekly column. Can’t stand him on the NBC Sunday Night Football telecasts. The guy just flat out sucks.

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  14. I was a huge sports fan growing up but drifted away over the years, so I missed the evolution of tough Joe Sixpack sports journalists into effete bedwetters. When the hell did that happen?

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