Ryan Wesley Routh

The second would-be presidential assassin in just two months should never have possessed a firearm because of his status as a convicted felon. 

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, has an arrest history showing more than 100 contacts with law enforcement going back to the 1990s, which includes both felony and misdemeanor convictions.  

Routh reportedly smiled and laughed while walking into federal court for his arraignment Monday morning. He was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. However, prosecutors have empaneled a federal grand jury and are pursuing more serious charges.

Routh’s criminal history shows an arrest in 2002 for what North Carolina officials described as a “weapons law violation” and “terroristic threats.” He was convicted for possessing a “weapon of mass destruction,” which officials have not yet fully explained. 

In 2010, Routh was convicted of possessing stolen property, which was used as the basis for Monday’s felon-in-possession charge. 

These multiple felony convictions should have precluded Routh from ever owing a firearm, but like most gun control laws, did nothing to stop him from reoffending. 

Routh’s most recent address was in Hawaii, where he reportedly owned a company that manufactured storage sheds. How he obtained the scoped 7.62x39mm rifle allegedly found at the crime scene in Florida, possibly a Samozaryadny karabin sistemy Simonova or SKS, is not known. It would have been extremely difficult for Routh to transport the weapon from Hawaii, and it should have been illegal for him to purchase the weapon in Florida. 

There are several techniques FBI or ATF criminalistics technicians can use to “raise” an obliterated serial number on a firearm, but as of Monday, no tracing information has been made public.

Known to Law Enforcement  

Most of Routh’s criminal history took place in North Carolina, where he lived for a number of years, but he was likely known to law enforcement officials in Hawaii, too. 

A Hawaiian man told CNN Monday Routh threatened him in an email following a business dispute by claiming he’d fought Russians in Ukraine. 

“I kind of decided maybe I should just let it go for the sake of my family,” the businessman said.

Routh’s social media posts, most of which have been scrubbed, indicated he may suffer from some type of mental illness. 

Routh visited Ukraine in 2022, and later tried to recruit veterans to fight against the Russian invaders, even going so far as to claim he was a secret agent for the Ukrainian government. Ukrainian Army spokesman, Oleksandr Shaguri, told CNN Monday that Routh claims were “delusional ideas.”    

Recruiting foreign fighters on American soil should have brought Routh to the attention of the State Department, if not the FBI, which as of Monday, has not issued any statements about Routh, his foreign recruitment attempts or his interaction with federal law enforcement. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in an emailed statement that the Justice Department “will work tirelessly to ensure accountability” and will “bring every available resource to bear in this investigation.”

Good Guy with a Gun 

To be clear, Routh illegally possessed a firearm with an obliterated serial number, which he never should have been able to purchase or possess. However, he was able to obtain the weapon, conduct surveillance and establish a sniper’s hide with ballistic protection – he had several bags containing ceramic tile – within 300-500 yards of his target, President Trump. And all while wearing a farily bright pink shirt that would’ve been more visible than if he was wearing dark or camouflage clothing.

Routh wasn’t stopped by federal gun-control laws. His murderous plans were only thwarted because he poked the rifle’s muzzle through a chain-link fence, which was spotted by a federal agent who quickly fired several rounds. Routh was not hit, but he dropped his weapon and fled. 

Like the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, this latest assassination attempt raises a multitude of questions, which the Secret Service or FBI may never answer.  

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on social media Monday that “The State of Florida will be conducting its own investigation regarding the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club.”

“The people deserve the truth about the would-be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee,” DeSantis said on X.

This story is courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support the project.

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101 COMMENTS

  1. Regarding his most recent brush with the law, he’s been charged for being a felon in possession and having a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

    But most on this list say because of recent Supreme Court decisions, it’s unconstitutional to ban felons from possessing a firearm.

    And many on this list support ghost guns without serial numbers, nothing in the Constitution about serial numbers so that’s an unconstitutional charge as well.

    He was just bearing arms under the constitution like any good American (Florida is permit-less carry), so why was he arrested? He wasn’t even on golf course property, he was outside the fence.

    And the guy was never closer than 500 yards, never discharged a firearm much less shot anyone… So how do y’all justify his arrest for a ‘pre-crime’?

    • To be clear:
      1. If someone, convicted of a crime, is released back into society, then I do feel they should get their 2A rights back.
      2. “Personally Manufactured Firearms” with no serial number to begin with are quite different from “firearms with serial numbers that have been obliterated”. However, IMO, neither one survives Heller as it isn’t a long standing tradition to have serial numbers on firearms.

      With that said, 2A grants one the right to keep and bear arms – for lawful purposes. Attempted murder is not a lawful purpose.

      • Twits like this guy never want to admit that the bad guy did a bad thing. I’m pretty sure Minor49(IQ) would be doing his happy dance if this guy had gotten a shot off at Trump. Not to mention that he is in the bag for all kinds of restrictions, or at least harps on those of us who are against them, and then tries to act like he’s caught everyone in some sort of inconsistency when we don’t champion this would-be-assassin’s actions. As you said, attempted murder is illegal, even if you don’t use a gun and aren’t a prior felon.

      • minor49iq…Your rant is nether here nor there, I suggest you remove the serial numbers from a motor vehicle and go tell the DMV to find out what any connection with removing valid serial numbers is about Gun or no Gun.

        Man up…You and your ilk own the deranged democRat lock, stock and barrel. BTW…You’ll soon find out the democRat’s firearm charges are the least of his problems.

        TRUMP/VANCE 2024.

      • 300, thanks for your well-reasoned and respectful reply.

        “Attempted murder“

        That remains to be seen, no shots fired, no reports of any threats by this individual.

        “Twits like this guy never want to admit that the bad guy did a bad thing“

        So exactly what bad thing did this individual do?
        No shots fired, he wasn’t even trespassing on DJT property.

        “Minor49(IQ) would be doing his happy dance if this guy had gotten a shot off at Trump“

        Nope, as I have expressed before most liberals and Democrats I know would rather see Trump continue to face Justice in the court system as opposed to a quick easy exit into martyrdom.

        “he’s caught everyone in some sort of inconsistency”

        Not everyone, but most on this forum.

        “You and your ilk own the deranged democRat“

        At this point, it appears as if this individual was a Trump supporter who voted for DJT in 2016, then later became disillusion with Donald Trump’s encouragement of police brutality (among other issues).

        • “a Trump supporter”

          He was another radicalized leftist, radicalized by the media and constant “threat to democracy” rhetoric coming from Democrats. He had a Biden Harris bumper sticker on his truck. The media is doing the “workplace violence” routine for a known terrorist attack. “We may never know the motive.”

          • “He had a Biden Harris bumper sticker on his truck.“

            That could be clever misdirection, it proves nothing.

            • It could only be considered potential misdirection if you’re viewing it in a vacuum. There’s plenty of context to go along with that showing that he was anti-Trump and pro-Democrat.

            • I’m sure when folks said there were leftists in the crowd on January 6th egging people on to riot and go inside you were all “No way, they wouldn’t do that, and you can’t prove that”, but here you are theorizing a bumper sticker is clever misdirection. Not surprising.

    • “So how do y’all justify his arrest for a ‘pre-crime’?”

      Maybe you should ask that question of the Biden administration, they want it to happen all the time with red flag laws

    • You’re just pissed he didn’t get Trump. Typical fascist, you think murder is a legit move against your enemies.

      • Once the radical Dems have purged the “enemies of the state” they will then purge those seen as “rightists” in the party itself.

      • I expressed this above, but I do think I owe you the courtesy of a reply to your comment:

        As I have expressed before, most liberals and Democrats I know would rather see Trump continue to face Justice in the court system as opposed to a quick easy exit into martyrdom.

        • You’ve created his matyrdom, already, miner. He would have faded to obscurity if not for the likes of you.

          You will not admit it. You fascists lie as naturally as breathing. But you want him dead.

          • “You’ve created his matyrdom”

            No, his intentional criminal behavior has brought about its negative consequences.

            Commit business fraud in the State of New York, be tried, convicted and sentenced to prison.
            It’s the same for everyone, criminal activity brings negative consequences.

    • I mean, all those things in a vacuum are correct.
      This isn’t the own you present it as, considering the dude was actively trying to kill someone.
      This is why nuance is good and black and white ideology is bad.
      Imo, the operative thing that should prohibit someone from exercising any right is trying to physically violate someone else’s rights. It’s not a perfect ideology and it’s a loose and case by case interpretation, but I like to think that should encompass the relevant original felonies which outlined exactly which heinous crimes would constitute a forfeiture of rights. Basically no victimless crimes.
      None of the policies that you sarcastically praised can really be effectively argued against if the argument is whether or not it’s is effectual on crime.
      Crazy people will persist, no matter how many laws you throw at them to break.

    • “Myth: Open carry is permitted.
      Fact: Open carry is still illegal in Florida under most circumstances. You may openly carry a firearm if you are engaged in or traveling to / from fishing, camping, hunting, or test / target shooting.”

      https://www.jaxsheriff.org/Resources/PermitlessCarry.aspx

      Please spare us the argument that his intention to shoot Trump qualifies him as having been on his way to hunting or target shooting.

      • “the dude was actively trying to kill someone“

        Any evidence to support this claim?

        Never fired his weapon, never pointed at anyone and wasn’t trespassing on DJT property.

        “Please spare us the argument that his intention to shoot Trump qualifies him as having been on his way to hunting or target shooting.”

        Why? MAGA politicians have no problem publicly stating they are hunting Republicans, why can’t this guy?

        “Join the MAGA crew,” Mr. Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, declares in the ad. “Get a RINO hunting permit. There’s no bagging limit, no tagging limit, and it doesn’t expire until we save our country.”

        The ad by Mr. Greitens was just the latest but perhaps most menacing in a long line of Republican campaign ads featuring firearms and seeking to equate hard-core conservatism with the use of deadly weapons.“

        Say, do you think Ryan Routh might’ve seen some of those ‘Republican campaign ads featuring firearms’?

    • You can posses a firearm without serial numbers that is correct. You cannot legally remove serial numbers from firearms that already have them

      Way to cheery pick what you want. Also only non violent criminals can own weapons according to the SC. This guy appears to be pretty violent or at least making threats of violence on numerous occasions.

      As always your arguments are half backed.

      I don’t get how it would be hard for the suspect to bring a gun from Hawaii. People fly in and out of Hawaii with guns everyday. It would be harder in Hawaii to aquire a gun than the Mainland though.

  2. Yeah it’s a puzzlement ain’t it?!? Like how do thousands of felons get gats in Chiraq ? Meanwhile being law abiding puts you on a list. Oh well🙄😧

    • … it’s known as Trump Derangement Syndrome, and our resident expert on the subject, Miner 49er, will be happy to answer any and all questions anyone may have – as he is an admitted , untreated patient with an advanced case of the affliction.

  4. Wake up, people. This guy is a classic patsy — an ordinary man (a contract roofer) searching for meaning in his life, advocating for multiple causes, including the defense of Ukraine. He had come into contact with multiple politicians from both the US and Ukraine. The Feds picked up on him, put hardware in his hand and an idea in his head, and set him loose. How did he know Trump would be golfing that day?

    Remember that poor sap who drove across country from Oregon, heading to D.C. to waste some congresscritters, and was picked up in Iowa for a traffic violation?

    Or the other poor sod who parked on the steps of the Library of Congress — he claimed he had a bomb in his truck and would level the entire city?

    Then, of course, the infamous plot to take out the governor of Michigan?? Those poor sods were the lowest and the low and the weakest of the weak, and it was proven in court they were manipulated by the Feds.

    The Feds are masters at recruiting mentally-ill losers and setting them up for arrest. Why wouldn’t they also set them loose to cause havoc?? Feds troll protests not just looking to frame and arrest people, but to recruit pathetic losers and convince them to organize and execute crimes so they can be arrested and make the Feds looks good, or to just cause havoc.

    Do not trust any law enforcement. Stay the hell away from them.

    • If I was Trump I would organize, vet, and fund my own private security. He should stay away from the incompetent, DEI, untrustworthy government goons.

      • From what I understand, he had 4 agents assigned to him when the perp was shot at – or, many LESS than during the first attempt in Pennsylvania. Soon, Biden will be filling open SS slots with former Uvalde PD officers. The next attempt will be taking his 757, aka “Trump Force One” out of the sky with one of the recently smuggled-out-of-Mexico shoulder fired AA weapons.

    • “The Feds picked up on him, put hardware in his hand“

      That’s quite the claim, I’m sure you wouldn’t make a statement like that unless you had some sort of credible evidence to back up your words.

      Have you shared your ‘evidence’ with anyone?

      In every card game, at some point one must show ‘em… Whadda ya got?

  5. An SKS? I have seen them for sale at garage sales and once found one in a crashed truck in a junkyard. In all likelihood he bought it before he became a prohibited person and that is what the serial number was removed. They are a great design chambered in an under powered cartridge. I have always wanted to re barrel one in 6mm PPC.

  6. Thus the attraction of confiscating firearms from everyone, except protected classes, such as criminals, illegals, gangs; these are needed to justify govt programs.

  7. “He was convicted for possessing a “weapon of mass destruction,” which officials have not yet fully explained. ”

    Its not a mystery, its in the charging documents from that 2002 arrest. Its explained in the charging documents as a ‘machine gun’.

  8. “To be clear, Routh illegally possessed a firearm with an obliterated serial number, which he never should have been able to purchase or possess. However, he was able to obtain the weapon, conduct surveillance and establish a sniper’s hide with ballistic protection – he had several bags containing ceramic tile – within 300-500 yards of his target, President Trump. And all while wearing a farily bright pink shirt that would’ve been more visible than if he was wearing dark or camouflage clothing.”

    They tracked his cell phone locations, he was around the golf course for 12 hours prior Trumps arrival. He also got the SKS from somewhere/someone in the area. This from the sheriff in an interview.

    • Shannon Watts took to twitter to let everyone know that red flag laws would have stopped this criminally minded guy from traveling to Florida, hanging around the golf course for 12 hours, setting up a sniper hide, and procuring a gun illegally in the area. ’cause you know criminals always obey laws, right?

  9. “establish a sniper’s hide with ballistic protection – he had several bags containing ceramic tile – within 300-500 yards of his target”

    He did not “get” within 300-500 yds of Trump – he was lying in wait, for hours. Had he not been seen, Trump and companions would have been line-of-sight, and within easy range of a mag dump, as they played through.

    I am not sure I would fault the Secret Service on this one. Not sure I wouldn’t, either, but this ain’t as damning as Butler, full stop.

    My point is this dude has a strong clown aspect to him, but this was a well thought out plan that could easily have worked. As to how he knew Trump would be there, Trump golfs on the weekends. Everybody knows that.

    Can you imagine if someone took a crack at Hillsry 8 years or 25 years ago? It would STILL be in the headlines…

    • “As to how he knew Trump would be there, Trump golfs on the weekends.”

      Exactly. His campaign said publicly he was going to Florida, he always plays golf there on weekends when he goes back to Florida. The guy may be mentally ill but he can extrapolate a likely hood from 1 + 1 = 2. He just didn’t know when Trump would arrive, all he had to do was hang around and wait for him to show up or hang around the airport and it would be obvious when Trump arrived by aircraft, or wait until you see a bunch of guys in suits with sun glasses talking into their sleeves arrive.

      • clarification for: “he always plays golf there on weekends when he goes back to Florida”

        When he is in town that’s where Trump plays on weekends. Trump owns the course. It’s where he relaxes and plays when he’s at Mar-a-Lago. His campaign staff had previously said he would be at Mar-a-Lago that weekend.

          • “Donald Trump had invited Sean Hannity to play golf with him that weekend, but for some reason Sean Hannity didn’t show…”

            Which means exactly zero. Just so ya know, Sean Hannity wasn’t actually invited by Trump to play golf.

            Hannity went to breakfast with Steve Witcoff, and Witcoff invited Hannity to play with them. But Hannity declined the invitation because he had work to do. Steve Witcoff was on the course with Trump when the incident happened. This from Hannity himself before they released the rifle was not an AK-47 but rather an SKS

            and had you known what research and context is you would have found this video where Hannity describes this > ht- tps: -=– //ww- w.youtube.com/watch?v=CC8SFX528e0 (starting at about 1:47 in the video from two days ago. Instead, you try to start a conspiracy theory thing to troll with.

            • “This from Hannity himself… “

              Yep, that’s exactly I would say.

              You really expect him to admit involvement?

              “What is the “absence of evidence” fallacy? Dr. Carl Sagan’s quote, “Absence of Evidence does not mean Evidence of Absence” can be simplified to mean that the lack of evidence for the existence of something does not necessarily prove that it does not exist at all.”

              • You obviously don’t understand the “‘absence of evidence’ fallacy”

                The only fallacy here is you, trying to create a ‘conspiracy’ with nothing at all.

                Learn what context means Miner49er.

              • I do not expect you to admit you’re a fascist, miner.

                Not expecting him to admit involvement…..does sound sorta like a conspiracy theory.

      • Just because the perp was supposedly mentally ill doesn’t make then stupid. But they often work on a different logic.

      • I don’t know why people think Trumps location had to have been leaked like its a dark conspiracy. Sure, its possible that happened but just jumping to that conclusion and yelling ‘CONSPIRACY!’…. but Trump going to that area was known already as his campaign staff publicly said he was going to Mar-a-Lago. His routine of playing golf there on weekends when hes at Mar-a-Lago is not a secret. Its a simple matter for 1 + 1 = 2, just go there and hang around till he shows up to play golf like this guy did.

        There are multiple ways to track a candidates location, and most of the campaigns will give a weekly itinerary. Its just a matter of 1 + 1 = 2 and extrapolating from there.

    • “Can you imagine if someone took a crack at Hillsry 8 years or 25 years ago? It would STILL be in the headlines… “

      Nope, it actually happened 30 years ago and those who don’t study history have completely forgotten about the matter. Interestingly, the perpetrator also used an SKS rifle:

      “Francisco Martin Duran (/dəˈræn/; born September 8, 1968) is an American criminal who is mostly known for his actions of October 29, 1994, when he fired 29 rounds from an SKS rifle at the White House. Duran was later convicted of attempting to assassinate United States president Bill Clinton and sentenced to 40 years in prison.”

      There were other attempts on the Clintons, including an Al-Qaeda bomb during a Philippines visit

      • More fake news from Miner. Duran was trying to shoot the umbilical cord connecting the Alien Mist to the Mothership in Colorado to save the world, and some of the shots landed near a group of tourists – one of whom resembled Bill Clinton. Six weeks earlier, a plane was crashed onto the White House lawn attempting to destroy the same Alien Mist. The Clintons were never in danger in either incident, with Hillary working on various nefarious plots and Bill watching football, with his favorite cigars and interns.

        • Hey unicorn, I like your version better than reality.

          Something interesting about the actual event, IIRC the perp was on the sidewalk in front of the White House, he did a mag dump with one of the hokey 30 round ‘detachable’ SKS mags but two bystanders jumped him while he was fumbling with the mag change.

          • Nope, he was outside of the fence, shooting towards the WhiteHouse lawn, again with the Clintons safely ensconsed within the armored walls… but go ahead with your false equivalence just to strengthen your position as an idiot shill.

            • “Nope, he was outside of the fence, shooting towards the WhiteHouse lawn“

              That’s what I said, and he was taken down by two bystanders.

              “the perp was on the sidewalk in front of the White House“

              Also, he wasn’t shooting at the White House:

              “On Saturday, October 29, 1994, Duran, on the sidewalk outside the White House grounds, shot at a tourist inside the White House gates whose haircut resembled President Clinton’s“

              • … so now you’re saying NOBODY took a crack at Hillsry 8 years or 25 years ago, and it’s not in the news because it NEVER was newsworthy. Gotcha

  10. So “they” got a “mentally ill” ho.m.os-ex.ual to try and kill President Trump. I thought h-o.m.osex.u-als didn’t suffer from mental illness???

    That’s what the smartest people in the room say all the time. “Being gay is not a mentally illness.” They said being g-a.y has no effect at all, on a person’s mental health.

    Since he has a felony record. Did his g.a’y friends buy the gun for him???

    Yes that’s correct. I do ask these kinds of questions.

    And why is it different when a woman buys a gun for her criminal boyfriend??

    • Chris, it’s like you see one of those alphabet people behind every blade of grass, it’s always top of mind with you. That does seem a little weird, but whatever floats your boat.

      • I will not ignore gay criminals. And I will not ignore the anti-civil rights [email protected] governors in Colorado and Massachusetts.

        Those white ho.m.osexua.l elected governors, are as anti-civil rights as any former Southern governor in the 1950s.

        I guess that is what you get when you elect a ho-m.osex-ual to office.

        Now provide me examples of elected ho-m.os-exual atheists who supports the Bill of Rights. As far as I know they supported the government closing church services.

        But allow strip clubs BLM protests and gay pride parades.

      • “it’s like you see one of those alphabet people behind every blade of grass”

        There certainly are enough of them in such numbers, to write and pass gun control laws. In the state of California, and the city of San Francisco.

  11. I hope more people start to understand this. That supporting “gay marriage” means absolutely nothing to libertarians liberals and the left. It means nothing to the h.omo-sexual.s and at-he.ists.

    They are all soc.ia-lis.ts pr.o-gre-ss.ive in their p0lit-ic@l 0ri-en.ta-ti0n.

    They will work to destroy anyone who is even slightly conservative. Private citizen Trump hosted gay and interracial marriages on his private property back in I believe in 1989.

    And he still hosts gay marriages to this day. At his Florida property. And still they want to murder him.

    God please protect President Trump. And the people around him.

      • Ho.mos-exu.als ath.eis-ts are as anti-civil rights as the klu klux klan. They don’t have to be as violent as the Klan. They can be and certainly have been.

        But normally, they use our system of lawmaking to take civil rights away from people.

  12. Uh, not all atheists are communists or even liberals. I’m certainly not. I’m as anti-commie as they come. And not all atheists are anti-religion. I’ll take the Christians over the liberals every day of the week… right up until they want to burn atheists at the stake.. again.

    I certainly am anti-CERTAIN religions, though.

    You’re sound as brainwashed about atheists as most liberals are about guns. No one speaks for all atheists any more than the NRA speaks for all gun owners… for example.

    • Are you one of those atheists who supports having dead children in the basement of a house???

      Like the great atheist hero and leader Sam Harris.

      Going back several 100 years to complain about Christians chasing down atheists is ok, you want to do that. I don’t think it applies in anyway to today’s world.

      But in my lifetime father’s time and my lifetime , it was atheists who were putting christians and jews into gas chambers. Working people to death by the tens of millions.

      Running execution squads on a factory level pace 24 hours a day.

  13. A few questions about the alleged assassin.
    First, he has been allegedly living in Hawaii. Living on 3 grand a month. With no verifiable employment. He’s been flying all over the place over the last few years. Hawaii to DC, Clear across to Ukraine. \So here’s the question. Where is he getting the money for these excursions? As a convicted felon under current law he could not legally obtain or posses a firearm. Where did he get the rifle? Did he have the vehicle stored in the region or did he obtain it after flying in? How did he find the allegedly only suitable site for setting up a hide on the golf course without either reconning it himself or receiving information from someone?
    Sorry folks, this stinks to high heaven. There is more going on than we have been told or ever will be told. I honestly doubt this guy will ever see a trial or prison time. Likely to be Arkansided or Epstiened before he can talk to anyone.

    • “Where did he get the rifle?”

      He got it in the local area when he arrived.

      “Did he have the vehicle stored in the region or did he obtain it after flying in?”

      The car, a Nissan SUV, was later determined to have plates which belonged to a 2012 Ford which had been reported as stolen. But aside from the plates, in an interview the sheriff seemed to imply the Nissan SUV was stolen as well. Need to wait for more, not enough clear info on that point yet.

    • “How did he find the allegedly only suitable site for setting up a hide on the golf course without either reconning it himself or receiving information from someone?”

      He spent about 12 hours around the golf course before Trump arrived. The sheriff said they tracked his cell phone locations, and if that’s true the data shows him around the golf course for a 12 hour period before Trump arrived which is plenty of time to find a spot.

    • ““How did he find the allegedly only suitable site for setting up a hide”

      Easy, it was the spot with the shortest distance to a hole that a golfer would play which would place him LOS for a shot.

      • Google Earth can help a lot with that especially with measuring distance. Not that durkas used it when setting up improvised mortars or anything. The topographic layer can be handy as well……. scary to think this is 15+year old tech available to everyone.

  14. I’ve owned the detach mag Chinese SKS, the fixed mag Chinese SKS and the pretty Russian SKS. They are for the most part 100 yard rifles especially those with pinned barrels. The trigger groups are finicky. I accurized the detach mag version with an aftermarket polymer stock, vented handguard, added some weld points to tighten things up and modified the mag well. All have found new homes long ago and as far as I know all are still reliable.
    It would be interesting for the AK Guy to take the perp’s rifle to a range to see what it could do beyond 100yds.

    • … never seen one yet, including the cheap assed stamped chicom ones that wouldn’t hold three shots inside of an 8 inch plate with decent softpoint ammo at 200 yards, and with about the same energy as a 30-30 Win has at that range, will take down whitetails and hogs just as well – although there are certainly better calibers than either if the distance gets to be any longer.
      I still have a worked-over Russian SKS (I know…who in his right mind would mod one of those?) that groups 5 of it’s favorite handloads into 3 to 4 inches at that same 200 yards.

      • I’ve got a few SKS rifles, I would not trust them for anything like accuracy for say a specific target spot ‘area’ (e.g. an 5 – 8 inch area) past ~125 yards max, but it is possible to put rounds somewhere on a man sized target ~250 – ~300 yards range but not very reliably. The SKS is definitely not something I would not choose for a ‘sniper rifle’ set up. I’d call their overall accuracy more like Minute of Softball to Minute of Basketball rather than Minute of Angle at ~100 yards though and growing up to to Minute of Volkswagon past that.

        • correction for: “The SKS is definitely not something I would not choose for a ‘sniper rifle’ set up.”

          should have been…

          The SKS is definitely not something I would choose for a ‘sniper rifle’ set up.

        • “The SKS is definitely not something I would not choose for a ‘sniper rifle’ set up“

          Right, which pretty much crashes the secret government conspiracy angle, they obviously would’ve provided him with a bump-stock AR15 and a 90 round drum.

          • “…they obviously would’ve provided him with a bump-stock AR15 and a 90 round drum.”

            Obviously? Really? And you know this is such an obvious fact, how?

            • “And you know this is such an obvious fact, how?“

              I can’t believe I have to provide definitions for such simple words.

              ‘Obvious’ is not about what you know, it’s about what is self evident:

              “Definitions from Oxford Languages
              Obvious
              adjective
              easily perceived or understood; clear, self-evident, or apparent.“

              Of course they would supply him with a bump stock AR15, that’s what they gave Steven Paddock in Las Vegas.

            • You don’t need to. What you need to do is understand grammatical construction of the English language to understand how you wrote it screams “obvious fact” and you even say that now in your ignorant reply with the definition of “Obvious” e.g. “clear, self-evident” which is a form of ‘fact’.

    • “detach mag Chinese SKS“

      Interesting, every SKS I’ve ever seen was a fixed 10 round magazine version.

      It can be modified for either a 20 round fixed or remove the magazine and use an aftermarket hokey 30 round mag.

  15. From reading headlines, and snippets of text messages, the anti-freedom mafia seems to be yelling, “Stop making us try to kill you”.

    • Anything bad is Orange Man’s fault. These people have been in charge for decades, but bad things exist because one man had a four year term that was over almost four years ago. It was a blip on the radar of our history. But everything is his fault, not the people that have been in government for their entire lives. In other news, propaganda still works.

      • Things being what they are, a Trump victory in 2024 will be a hollow victory. He will have even less influence than his first term; no consequence to anyone for ignoring his presidency.

  16. they keep pushing the removed serial number angle. my sks has the same number on the bolt, bolt carrier, receiver, trigger guard and stock mag. that’s all without taking the gun too far apart….there may be more. bare minimum his gun should have 4 locations since he didn’t have a stock mag. i would love to be the fly on the wall if someone asked them about this. i imagine the sound of crickets after the question.

    • It depends on where the SKS was made. But yeah, a lot of them had the serial number in different spots like you say. Some imported from china military surplus didn’t have any serial numbers when they arrived and one had to be put on them.

  17. “i would love to be the fly on the wall if someone asked them about this.”

    One of their own with a “ghost gun”; what irony to be ignored.

  18. I once helped a client of mine get his firearm rights restored because he had a felony burglary conviction from 30 years ago. His firearms rights were restored by the state and federal governments. Now he can go hunting in Florida with his grandkids and not be limited to a bow and arrow. Sometimes being a lawyer brings me great joy.

  19. I am confused about the statement that it would have been difficult to transport a gun from Hawaii.

    I travel frequently to Hawaii. No one has ever said anything about a gun in my checked baggage, going either way. The law says if you take a firearm into Hawaii you must declare it to the local police within 72 hours. I did that once and got a lifetime permit for the pistol. That is the only firearm that I transport to the state.

    With that said, there would be no problem leaving with whatever you want unless it is an agriculture or heritage item that they do check for with hand inspections and x-ray.

  20. “Recruiting foreign fighters on American soil should have brought Routh to the attention of the State Department, if not the FBI, which as of Monday, has not issued any statements about Routh, his foreign recruitment attempts or his interaction with federal law enforcement.”
    lol imagine being this naive
    The us gov, media and MIC are wholly in bed with the ukies
    so why would federal law enforcement go after him for doing their bidding? They wont, now if I did it for Russia 100% i get arrested
    see the hypocrisy here?

    • “if I did it for Russia 100% i get arrested”

      Well yes, they are foreign adversaries and we have active felony warrants against many Russian government operatives.

      If one was recruiting for Ukraine of course they would need to register as a foreign agent, but there’s certainly nothing illegal about Americans going to Ukraine to fight against the Russian invasion:

      “At the same time, updates regarding domestic terrorism in 8 U.S. Code § 2332, “Criminal Penalties,” from the USA PATRIOT Act (2001), criminalize volunteers if the host nation is considered a terrorist group, punishing them with imprisonment. [10] As the United States is not currently at war with Ukraine nor is Ukraine on the U.S. Government’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, the status of Ukraine would not make U.S. citizens volunteering in Ukraine in this case prohibited.”

      • yeah could care less what written law says, its crap that washington has picked sides, tells me what side i have to pick and paint chip eating boomers like you backing this garbage
        free country my ass

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