Las Vegas man charged with making, selling machine guns

A Las Vegas man was charged in federal court Wednesday with illegally manufacturing and selling machine guns locally, according to the Justice Department.

Jayson Babbitt, 35, is charged with dealing firearms without a license, illegal possession of a machine gun and making a machine gun in violation of the National Firearms Act, according to a release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

From June to September, Babbitt illegally made machine-gun style firearms using a “jig” at his home, the release said.

In mid-June, the Metropolitan Police Department received a tip that Babbitt was making and selling machine guns in Las Vegas. Metro and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arranged for an undercover official to purchase guns from Babbitt, according to a criminal complaint.

On July 24, an undercover official met Babbitt in the southeast valley and purchased two AR-15 style machine guns from Babbitt for $4,200, the complaint said.

During the sale, Babbitt said the guns were “ghost guns” without serial numbers, and that he used M-16 machine gun parts to make the firearms, the complaint said. Babbitt also showed the person a video of himself testing the weapons.

The person purchasing the guns told Babbitt the weapons were leaving the United States, the complaint said.

Babbitt was arrested Tuesday after he sold three AR-15 style machine guns for $6,000 to another undercover official in the southeast valley, the complaint said. He admitted to officers that he manufactured the guns at his house.

After his initial appearance in court Wednesday, Babbitt’s preliminary examination is scheduled for Sept. 18, court records show.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.