Officers need to be aware of the proliferation of small, easy-to-disguise guns that appear to be large writing pens, and the ease and inexpensive means of manufacturing the guns.
The guns fire a .22 cal. short round, are easily concealed and if painted, resemble a pen.
Burbank, Calif. police recently followed up on a tip of a cache of more than 100 pen guns (see picture) stored by a small-time manufacturer-seller. The pens were easy to make - they were produced by the son of a machine shop owner. The small guns, shaped just like regular ink pens, were slightly larger than a large fountain pen.
Police raided the machine shop near San Fernando Valley and recovered several guns and about a pound of meth. Many of the guns had apparently already been sold and were on streets.
Pictures:
Source: Burbank PD
