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The gun Tyler Robinson allegedly used to assassinate Charlie Kirk was so old that it predated serial number mandates — making the weapon impossible to track.
The Mauser model rifle, described in texts by Robinson as “grandpa’s rifle,” is a decades-old, German-made gun used in both World Wars and on the market years before a President Kennedy-inspired law ordered weapons to be etched with unique, traceable numbers.
There are believed to be millions of such weapons in homes throughout the country — raising concerns among federal authorities of the potential for other assassins to carry out similar attacks with their untraceable rifles.
“Short of the security afforded to the president, there’s no way to defend against the threat posed by this,” Scott Sweetow, a retired official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told NBC News
Robinson, 33, allegedly ditched the rifle wrapped in a towel in a wooded area near the Utah Valley University campus shortly after allegedly using it to kill Kirk as he spoke at an outdoor event.
Cops found the weapon hours after the assassination — but it’s not clear whether they would have been able to trace it to Robinson had his family not pressured him into surrendering to cops.
The gun is a Mauser model 98, prosecutors said. The 30-06 caliber rifle fires cartridges slightly smaller than 8 millimeters and is a bolt-action style weapon, meaning it needs to be reloaded between shots.
Robinson said in texts to his roommate that the gun had belonged to his grandfather, but it is not clear how the grandfather came into possession of it.
Thousands of American GIs brought the rifles home with them following World War I and II, and they have since become popular with hunters.
The vintage rifles are also widely available at firearm stores, pawn shops and gun shows, but newer models have unique serial numbers branded along the sides.
Serial numbers were not mandated until President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, a shocking crime that helped to usher in the Gun Control Act of 1968.
Under the law, firearms were required to have markings and paperwork identifying the buyer to enable tracing.
Robinson apparently knew his grandfather’s rifle was free of any such etchings, according to text messages he sent in the wake of the murder.
“I’m worried what my old man would do if I don’t bring back grandpa’s rifle,” Robinson wrote to his roommate just hours after the assassination.
“IDK if it has a serial number but it wouldn’t trace to me. I’m worried about prints, I had to leave it in a bush where i changed outfits, didn’t have the ability or time to take it with.”
The Utah State Bureau of Investigations claimed it recovered DNA from the murder weapon that is consistent with Robinson, court papers stated.
Other messages revealed that Robinson, who is not cooperating with investigators, was apparently remorseless about killing the father of two and rising star conservative, according to prosecutors.
“I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” he allegedly said.
