Gun show trader accused of making illegal assault weapons out of garage

By Daniel Macht

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    ROSEVILLE, California (KCRA) — A Roseville man has been accused of making illegal assault weapons out of his garage in Roseville and attempting to sell them as a trader at the Placerville Gun Show, the California Attorney General’s Office said on Tuesday.

Court documents filed in El Dorado County Superior Court and Placer County Superior Court identified the man as Marc Jay Berman, 74.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said the investigation stemmed from a regulatory inspection of the Placerville Gun Show on Nov. 3 by field representatives from the Bureau of Firearms Regulatory Compliance Unit.

“Field representatives from our Bureau of Firearms Regulatory Compliance Unit overhead an individual attempting to sell a silencer,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta.

After checking the seller’s firearms, the representatives discovered two illegal assault weapons for sale.

On Nov. 12, special agents searched the man’s home with help from the Roseville Police Department’s SWAT team. They recovered eight illegal assault rifles and a silencer, other handguns, disassembled rifles, firearm parts, large capacity magazines and rounds of ammunition, the AG’s office said.

“He would take a lower receiver (portion with serial number) he would actually sell it to a customer through a licensed dealer, and then after the waiting period, after that purchase was complete, after the serialized receiver was in the hands of the buyer, the buyer would come back to him and he would assemble the additional parts to make it an assault weapon,” said Bonta.

Bonta said the man faces at least 22 charges ranging from felonies to misdemeanors for manufacturing assault weapons for sale, and possession of assault weapons and the silencer.

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