A Ruger 9 mm semiautomatic pistol was used by the Boston Terrorists

[jpak]

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/single-gun-recovered-accused-boston-bombers/story?id=19028841#.UXp2Q6KTibs

Law enforcement sources told ABC News the gun recovered from the scene of the Tsarnaev brothers' shoot out with police was a Ruger 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. Sources said the gun is in the custody of the Massachusetts State Police lab and that the serial number on the firearm was obliterated.

Investigators have techniques to raise serial numbers after they have been obliterated so they can be read. Investigators would use the serial numbers to conduct urgent traces on the gun to determine where and how it was purchased.

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[rightsideout]

1. But the boat gun must have been invisible

Since the police said they exchanged gunfire at the boat but haven't recovered one . . . nevermind. Shouldn't have brought that up.

[1-Old-Man]

2. Just to put a little perspective into this, Rugers are inexpensive firearms and 9mm is very popular

Just passing information, Ruger firearms are about two steps above a Bolivian-made saturday-night-special in terms of both quality and price. They are sold all over the place. The 9mm round comes in two versions, a short version (small shell case capacity) that is called a 380 and the standard longer version which is called the 9mm parablem (sp?) or sometimes called the 9mm Luger, because the infamous Lugar pistols from Nazi Germany used the round. What is interesting about both rounds is that they are "rimless" which is to say they do not have an extended rim at their base. That rim, in bullets that have them, is used to hold the round in its proper place in the chamber of a revolver. Bullets that do not have that rim are made to be shot in pistols, not revolvers. Full automatic pistols do exist, but they are rare as hen's teeth, so essentially all 9mm rounds are used in semiautomatic pistols. There are also a number of machine-guns that are chambered for 9mm rounds, but they aren't the subject here.

[gejohnston]

5. I disagree with one thing

I think you have Ruger confused with Raven. Rugers are very high quality and are not inexpensive.

[spin]

8. I prefer S&W revolvers to Ruger revolvers ...

but that is because I find most S&W revolvers to have the better trigger pull. However, I will admit that the Ruger revolvers are often built to be far stronger and more durable than the S&W models.

Ruger does make high quality revolvers. There is absolutely no doubt of that.

[gejohnston]

9. both of my brothers carried S&W revolvers as cops

being a single action revolver fan, S&W doesn't make any. That said, if I were to carry a revolver for defense, it would be a S&W. When it comes to semi autos, I lean towards Ruger, Walther, and CZ.

[spin]

15. While S&W makes good revolvers I feel other companies make better pistols. ...

Many gun owners that I know own Glock Pistols and praise them highly.

I personally dislike the Glock safety and feel Glocks are fugly but I have to admit that Glocks are reliable, accurate and easy to maintain.

I prefer revolvers over pistols with high cap magazines as I have small hands and the width of a grip with a double stack magazine makes a firearm awkward for me to shoot. The single stack magazine in the grip of a 1911 style .45 auto fits my hand well.

Glock does make one .45 ACP model with a single stack magazine. I've considered buying a Glock 36 as I feel that 6 rounds of .45 ACP and one in the chamber is adequate for my purposes. As the Glock 36 is a subcompact pistol it would work well for concealed carry in a quality holster. Unfortunately some gun owners have reported issues with this Glock model.

I would love to see Glock offer pistols with a grip safety. This probably will never happen.

[spin]

7. Revolvers can shoot rimless ammo. ...

For example I own a S&W Model 940 9mm revolver.

Smith & Wesson Model 640

The Smith & Wesson Model 640 revolver is a 5-shot snubnosed revolver that is chambered in either .38 Special or .357 Magnum calibers. Like nearly all other "J-frame" Smith & Wesson revolvers, it has a swing-out cylinder, but this model features a concealed hammer. It has been in production since 1990 and is part of the Centennial line.[2]

The first model was chambered in .38 Special and fitted with a standard barrel of 1-7/8 inch length. The second model had a slightly heavier and longer barrel of 2-1/8 inch length. The gun was constructed entirely of stainless steel until 1995, when models were made in aluminium and designated "airweight".

A 3" barreled version was offered until 1993, when it was dropped from production. That same year S&W introduced the Model 940, similar in appearance, but chambered in 9mm Luger. In 1996 the 940 was dropped and S&W began chambering the 640 in .357 Magnum. Because of the power of the .357 magnum cartridge, the frame is strengthened just in front of the cylinder release on those models.[3]...emphasis added
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Wesson_Model_640

Ruger also offered a 9mm revolver but I believe it is no longer manufactured either. The S&W 940 sells for a premium today. It uses moon clips to hold the ammo and is consequently faster to reload than most revolvers even if the shooter uses a speed loader.

Currently S&W manufacturers revolvers which fire 45 ACP ammo. The Governor which fires .410, .45 ACP and .45 Colt and the Model 625 which uses .45 ACP. I am not sure if they still make the Model 610 which fired 40 S&W and 10 mm rimless ammo.

I also owned a S&W Model 25 revolver which was a popular target pistol for many years before it was replaced by the Colt .45 pistol. I could fire rimless .45 ACP ammo in it without the use of half or full moon clips but I had to manually extract the cases from the cylinder with a rod or pen.

[deaniac21]

10. Glock 18's aren't that rare.

If it's chambered 9mm itcan't be a machine gun. The correct term would be either machine pistol or sub-machine gun.

[malaise]

3. Were they both shooting with the same gun? n/t

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. There was only one gun and one shooter

Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Whether little bro was throwing bombs is undetermined at this point. No witness or image that I know of puts any firearm in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's hand at any time of the night.

[ileus]

4. My p89 has never had FTF/FTE

Solid pistol since 1991...

[gejohnston]

6. several MA gun laws were violated

and at least three counts of current federal gun control laws were violated,
since the serial number was defaced, it is a safe bet that will be in NCIC as reported stolen. The brothers most likely bought it from a fence or drug dealer, who got it from a guy who stole it.

[The Straight Story]

12. Not to mention bombing, murder, and other laws

Only way to fix it is to make laws against breaking laws

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Licit to illicit pipeline

Some gun supplier took his cut here.

Gunners will pretend it was "stolen."

They're liars.

[Robb]

14. It's the same methodology displayed in the right-wing "boating accident" meme.

If "law abiding" gun owners chuckle about how they'll tell any gun-grabbin' regulator they "lost their guns in a boating accident," why should we believe them when they claim "oh, yeah, that gun was stolen"? They've demonstrated a willingness to lie about the disposition of their firearms to law enforcement -- more than a willingness, an enthusiasm about doing it.

An all-cash transaction followed by a reported theft. Gosh, I'm sure no "law abiding gun owner" ever, ever does that.