The AR-15 assault rifle taken from the alleged gunman in the shooting at the North Valley Jewish Community Center was assembled piecemeal, with the central shooting portion coming from Bushmaster Firearms in Maine.
Dick Dyke, president of Bushmaster, said the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms called his company early Tuesday morning to trace the weapon from his manufacturing plant in Windham, Maine, to find out how it wound up in the hands of Buford O. Furrow, the suspect in Tuesday's shooting.
"In the 23 years I've been in this business, there is only the rare occasion when one of our guns is used in something like this," he said.
"It certainly doesn't make you feel good when someone comes in harm's way with our gun."
Small Gun Dealership
Dyke said his staff told the agency that only the weapon's central shooting portion was sold to a small gun dealership in a rural Midwestern state in 1996. He declined to reveal the dealer's identity.
"We don't know how it got built into the rifle, whether the dealer built it, or if Furrow bought it or how many hands it went through before he got it," Dyke said.
"If the dealer did something wrong, he should expect ATF will deal with him," said Dyke, a former state finance chairman for GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush.
Although the central part, known as the "lower receiver," is just one of several pieces in a firearm, it is the part that carries the identifying serial number and holds the trigger, pistol grip and the well that receives the ammunition clip. As such, federal gun laws regulate it as if it were an entire gun.
Under federal laws, licensed gun dealers cannot legally sell firearms to Furrow because he is on probation for assault in Washington state.
But in 1996, people who bought rifles did not have to undergo a criminal background check as they do now. At that time, gun buyers merely had to fill out an information card and leave it with the gun dealer.
ATF declined to reveal any details about the results of its trace, other than to announce that Furrow's AR-15 was made by Bushmaster and that Furrow had several handguns.
John Torres, special agent in charge of the ATF branch in Los Angeles, refused to identify the handguns or confirm reports Monday that a 9-millimeter UZI assault pistol was one of them.
Police have said they found 9-millimeter shell casings in the community center.
