Man with 3-D printed unregistered SBR convicted on weapons charges

Unable to legally possess a firearm while the subject of a protective order, McGinnis was found by police last July in a wooded area with a backpack containing an AR-15 style rifle assembled with a 3-D printed lower receiver and a 10-inch barrel. (Photo: DOJ)

A North Texas man was convicted by a federal jury this week on a pair of felony charges following a two-day trial.

Eric Gerard McGinnis, 42, of Grand Prairie, was convicted on Wednesday of possessing an unregistered short barrel rifle and unlawfully possessing ammunition while subject to an active protective order. McGinnis, barred at the time from legal firearms possession, was discovered last year by police while in possession of an AR-15 style rifle assembled with a 3-D printed lower receiver and a 10-inch barrel.

According to court documents, McGinnis was indicted by a federal grand jury last September after local police in Grand Prairie responding a report of gunshots found the man in a wooded area with a backpack containing the rifle, 88 rounds of ammunition, a number of spent casings, and five magazines. Subject to a 2015 court order preventing him from legally possessing guns or ammunition as a result of a charge of family violence against a former girlfriend, McGinnis had attempted to purchase a receiver from a federal firearms licensee in 2016 and was rejected following a background check.

While federal law codifies the right to build National Firearms Act-compliant guns, those who chose to do so must be legally able to possess them. Further, NFA regulations require that rifles with a barrel shorter than 16 inches must be properly logged in the National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record, and McGinnis’s build was not.

Sentencing for McGinnis, who remains in custody, is set for Oct. 24. His rifle, ammunition, and magazines were ordered forfeited to the government.

McGinnis’s Linkedin page lists him as the “Director of Intelligence Services” with the Central Intelligence Agency while a public records search details past arrests for drug charges and contempt of court.