Police Arrest CA Man Who Built a 20 Gauge Shotgun from a Super Soaker

I had never seen a Super Soaker shotgun before, but apparently turning Super Soakers into zip guns is a trend among criminals. As this news story points out, the Fresno police had been briefed on Super Soaker conversions, so when they spotted a 54 year old man with a Super Soaker slung around his neck they became suspicious. And they were right: the Super Soaker turned out to be a home-made 20 gauge.

There are an unneriving number of youtube videos showing how to make a zip shotgun. It requires a piece of pipe of the correct diameter to chamber a shell, and another that slides over it with a cap on the end and a screw for a firing pin inside. Slide the two pipes together hard enough and it goes off. What happens next is a crap shoot. The gun may go off, or it may just blow up. It seems like buying a real shotgun would be a much better idea, but I don’t understand the criminal mind.

Given that this happened in Fresno, CA, how long do you think it will be before a California state legislator tries to ban water guns?