Man Orders TV Through Amazon, Gets Assault Rifle

[bluedigger]

[div class="excerpt" style="border-left: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-right: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0.3077em 0.3077em 0em 0em; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]Man Orders TV Through Amazon, Gets Assault Rifle[div class="excerpt" style="border-left: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-right: 1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius: 0em 0em 0.3077em 0.3077em; background-color: #f4f4f4; box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px #bfbfbf;"]When D.C. resident Seth Horvitz ordered a flat-panel TV on Amazon, he didn’t expect to get a military-grade assault rifle in return.

Horvitz ordered the TV, a Westinghouse 39-inch LCD, for about $320 from a third-party electronics seller on Amazon.

On Tuesday evening, a large, oblong box arrived at his doorstep via UPS Ground.

“When I saw some metal parts inside the box, I thought, ‘Maybe this is a TV stand or mount or something,’” Horvitz said in a phone interview with Wired.

“When I realized it was an assault rifle, it was pure shock and disbelief.”

Not being one to want a personal “shock and awe” arsenal of his own, Horvitz contacted the D.C. police. They immediately confiscated the box, which contained a semi-automatic Sig Sauer 716 patrol rifle. The police informed Horvitz that the gun was illegal in the District of Columbia.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/08/tv-amazon-assault-rifle/

[AnotherMcIntosh]

1. And somebody paid $1866. or so and got a $320., 39-inch Westinghouse LCD TV.

[liberal N proud]

2. Sounds like JC Wittney

We were restoring an old Jeep, every time we ordered parts we would get something for completely different vehicle. We would call them and they would simply send the correct part. My dad had dozens of parts for different vehicles because they didn't want them back.

[ileus]

15. Well jeeps were made with whatever part was the cheapest that year.

Ford, Dodge, Dyna, Chevrolet, some AMC LOL...


I've pulled apart wiring harnesses on old 70's jeep where wires were twisted together and taped with electrical tape.

[GreenStormCloud]

3. Seller (Not Amazon) screwed up.

Sounds like and FFL also does electronics sales. The gun was supposed to be shipped to an FFL and the TV to Horvitz. Shipping clerk put the wrong label on the boxes.

Shouldn't be illegal in DC. All that was needed would be to contact the seller, ship back the gun at their expense, then recieve the TV.

[ManiacJoe]

4. It took until paragraph 17: The evidence points to a UPS mix-up.

Outside the need for attention grabbing headlines, the rifle is not an assault rifle according the article...

[bluedigger]

5. Yup, it's all UPS from what I can tell.

The TV seller got screwed by Amazon who booted them, The buyer of the SIG apparently hasn't surfaced yet, and somebody at the UPS facility took home a TV.. .

Let's not even bother with the whole assault rifle thing. That path is worn into the ground.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

8. Not an assault rifle?

How can that be?

It has plastic parts. It has some kind of a handle used on assault rifles. It's black. It has a telescoping stock. And it is scary.

[mindwalker_i]

6. The gun is probably more entertaining

and about as likely to cause mental issue.

[gejohnston]

7. 500 channels and nothing to watch,

Yes Mr. Minnow, it is a vast wasteland.

[thelordofhell]

9. DEATH TO VIDEODROME!! LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH!!

[4th law of robotics]

10. A military grade assault rifle . . .

from the journalist school for identifying weapons.

It was probably modified to shoot exclusively cop-killer bullets and had a shoulder thing that went up (making it 300% deadlier).

[BigAlanMac]

11. The SIG 716

is an AR-15 style semi-auto rifle that fires 7.62 x 51 (NATO) ammunition.

[aikoaiko]

12. SIG 716

I do want. Not that 7.62 Nato is affordable to shoot these days, but I still want.

[IMG][/IMG]

[ileus]

13. I could only dream of such a mix up.

[Kaleva]

14. I'd call the police right away or at least call the gun dealer it was supposed to be shipped to.

Somebody else paid for it so it belonged to them.

[Glaug-Eldare]

16. If it were legal, the cops would have lied.

The MPD is an embarassment to the law enforcement profession, and its brass should be humiliated to be associated with it. There is literally no source of information on DC gun laws less reliable than the MPD. Not exaggerating -- their policy is to deceive, frighten, and discourage people from exercising rights of which Chief Lanier doesn't approve. This is more-or-less true in most gun-restricted states, but the DC police administrators are unique in the depth of their betrayal.

I'm also surprised that the police believed Horvitz at all. A more Washingtonian reaction would have been to put his house under siege, scream "PUT THE GUN DOWN" at him repeatedly, then burst in with a SWAT team and arrest him for various possession, trafficking, and terrorism charges. If this had happened to me, I would have taken the Metro to MD or VA before calling the police. I don't want to be anywhere near these DC clowns when they hear the word "gun."

[HALO141]

17. I just wish I could repeat these results.

That's a deal I'd make all day long. Nice rifle.

[rl6214]

18. Damn, why can't I be that lucky.

Did you have an opinion on this article or did you just think it would be cool to post a gun article?

[bluedigger]

19. I was curious as to the responses.

They (and you) have been sadly predictable. They either want to make the description of the weapon clear, or express regret at not having been the recipient of such good fortune.

Not one person has expressed any curiosity at the fact that weapons are allowed to be shipped with no tracking safeguards by the shippers, apparently. We just trust them, and the efficiency of the free market, I guess. UPS would go out of business if this ever happened again, right?

[gejohnston]

20. I'm guessing you never used UPS or FexEx? UPS has tracking numbers on everything

so, I don't get your point.
I doubt he knew it was a rifle until he opened it. I doubt the driver knew. From a security stand point, it would be kind of stupid to put "this is a gun" on the box. I have been told that the ATF requires it of handguns so UPS workers under 21 don't touch the box (kind of like Kansas having a law that a cashier under 21 can't ring up a six pack of beer).

If you are using USPS, it is wise to send it registered.

[ileus]

21. a little too newsworthy for comfort

Hummm......all that talk about "online" sales now this gets "sent" to DC. Pretty handy if you ask me.