All but three guns in a cache of weapons stolen earlier this month from an unguarded building used by the Los Angeles Police Department’s SWAT unit were sold to black market buyers, police said Friday.
Police arrested two men on suspicion of committing the theft and three others on charges of possession of the three recovered weapons, Cmdr. Andrew Smith said.
Police said they are continuing their search for the weapons, which they said included about 15 MP-5 submachine guns and a similar number of large caliber handguns.
Although the guns had been altered to fire plastic pellets for training exercises, it is possible for them to be restored to fire regular ammunition. LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has downplayed that possibility, however gun experts and online tutorials suggest that the process is relatively simple and requires only a few parts.
The company that manufactures the conversion kits used by the LAPD has an instructional video on its website that walks a viewer through the steps of returning an MP-5 to its original form in about five minutes. At least some of the parts required to change the MP-5 back to live firing were for sale on a gun supply website. It was unclear, however, what documentation or background checks would be required to purchase them.
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