The Linda Pillo Challenge: Full-Auto Pump-Action Shotgun
   By Carl Bussjaeger, January 30, 2010

Washington state legislators are pushing an "assault weapon" ban, SB 6396 (pdf). Seattle Gun Rights Examiner Dave Workman talks about a hearing on the bill.

It seems that Bellevue Police Chief Linda Pillo showed up to speak in support of the piece of legislative stupidity. And she shared some stupidity of her own:

“Assault weapons can also be easily converted to fully automatic machine guns.”

My personal experience is that – as a group, but with individual exceptions – cops have relatively little knowledge of firearms. Pillo is obviously not one of the exceptions.

David Codrea has suggested a "Linda Pillo Challenge": show up at press conferences and ask her to demonstrate this simple process. I live – fortunately – on the opposite side of the continent from the chief, so press conference attendance isn't practical for me. So after skimming over SB 6396, I sent an email to the Bellevue PD.

To: bellevuepd@bellevuewa.gov
Subject: Easy Conversion Challenge

Bellevue, WA police chief Linda Pillo stated that “Assault weapons can also be easily converted to fully automatic machine guns” at a hearing on the assault weapon bill, SB 6396.

Since one of the BATFE criteria for firearm manufacture approval is that the firearm must specifically not be easily converted into a machine gun, this comes as a surprise to a great many people with any knowledge of firearms. Obviously Chief Pillo knows something we do not. Or is making it up as she goes.

I challenge Chief Pillo to demonstrate the ease of such a conversion, making a video of her performing the procedure available to the public on the Internet. And since she is a supporter of SB 6396, I challenge her to do this with this SB 6396-defined assault weapon: "any pump-action [...] shotgun that is capable of accepting a detachable magazine". Upon completion of the conversion, the Chief should demonstrate the new machine gun's functionality at a firing range.

Please Chief Pillo, show us how easy it is to convert a pump action shotgun into a full-auto machine gun. If you are really good, you will accomplish this with nothing but standard off-the-shelf tools and materials found at Lowes Hardware.

Since this project would be an official law enforcement demonstration, the licenses, fees, and approvals that regular citizens would require (actually, it's illegal to manufacture a machine gun for American civilian use, regardless of licenses) might be bypassed; but I suggest you verify requirements with the BATFE.

Sincerely,

Carl Bussjaeger

Added 1/31/10:
Hey, Chief! Here's one you can use. It must be especially deadly because it's black, it has a pistol grip, a folding stock, and a terrifying detachable magazine.

[sarc]Why don't you check Shotgun News for a full-auto conversion kit?[/sarc]

Added 7/19/10:
I didn't hear back from the Chief, so I sent her a follow-up on 3/10/10. Still haven't heard how her magically simple pumpgun:machinegun conversion is going, so I wrote to her again today.This might seem like old news, but every month I have site visitors looking specifically for Pillo's conversion challenge response.