How the Las Vegas Gunman Planned a Massacre, in 7 Days of Video - General

https://youtu.be/6ZRgVX8SYX4

One of the things that really stands out for me in all of this is that, for the money he spent on guns and magazines (the ones he used cost over $100 EACH), the time he spent collecting them, and on those $200 bumpstocks, he could have applied for and legally purchased a real deal belt fed machine gun and only need to carry up one or two extra suitcases total. He had over $40,000 worth of Daniel Defense AR-15s and a couple thousand dollars worth of Surefire magazines, never mind the cost of the ammunition they were loaded with.

I am sure at the belt-fed machine gun level you get into Class III status firearms; Which basically is prohibited without jumping through a lot of hoops.

its a shame that we will never know why he did all this, can only speculate.

Very expensive and ~14 month wait for the background check to come back, both of which he could have done in the time taken to acquire the above listed stuff.

Oh for sure, but he would also have to allow federal agents to come onto his property without a warrant at anytime and I believe you have to be somewhat functioning as an FFL seller (actually sell/buy weapons) to maintain the liscense. Not saying the guy couldn’t do it, but I just don’t imagine the obscure quiet retired guy at a casino every night would even want to do that. Totally possible for him though.

That's only if he wants to get dealer post samples. He can buy one that was registered prior to May 17, 1986 and it would be no different than owning an SBR or suppressor. Besides, even if the other situation were the case, if the guy is intent on mowing down a crowd of partiers before shooting himself in the face, I don't know how much he'd object to the slim chance of a surprise inspection.

Just the fact that he went through all this is so disturbing to think about.

Yes and no, depends on how you go about it. For legally transferable machineguns, being those made prior to 1986 and registered before then, its treated the same as a suppressor or short barrel rifle. You fill out a form 4, submit finger prints and photographs, send uncle same a check for $200 and wait while they do a background check. Much more difficult than buying a regular firearm, but for someone with a lot of time and a lot of money is not as out of the question. Considering that you can get an M60 for about the same sum of money as mentioned above it's not as if he couldn't have as he had the money for it (which is usually the part that makes them so prohibitive). Very Significant hoops would come into play if you wanted a post-86 machinegun which requires a manufacturers licence and a type 2 SOT, a physical location separate from the home, registration with ITAR, registration with the EPA, legally mandated security and insurance, ontop of paperwork with finger prints and photographs.