'Most armed man in America' comments on recent mass shootings
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (KTRK) -- After acquiring thousands of high-powered weapons, bazookas and machine guns, a man now claims he's the "most armed man in America."
Gun shop owner Mel Bernstein says he has amassed over 4,000 weapons at his Colorado Springs compound, where he also keeps military-style vehicles. The weapons are registered in his name, he says, and he also rents and sells machine guns to his customers.
Bernstein commented on the most recent mass shootings in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs.
"Whatever the killer used, that's what they want," said Bernstein. "They want to feel the firepower. They want to have the gun just like that to show people."
Bernstein said his gun shop sold out of bump stocks shortly after the Vegas massacre that left 58 people dead and over 500 injured. Paddock allegedly modified 12 of his rifles with bump stocks, an attachment that enables a semiautomatic rifle to fire hundreds of shots per minute.
"They were only $185," Bernstein said. "In two days (after the Oct. 1 Vegas attack), we sold all of them."
There is no way to know if Bernstein's claims are true of owning the most guns in the country.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) says there is no database with that information.
