Psst, say, buddy, need an untraceable sniper rifle?

Internet auction sites that deal mainly in guns and ammo popped up last spring after eBay, anticipating negative publicity, stopped allowing gun sales.

For the most part, these are legit avenues, with nearly all the guns listed coming from regular dealers with stores. As at the (unfairly) oft-maligned gun shows, virtually all sales require the Brady Bill background check and other federal paperwork.

There is a loophole; guns made before 1898 are not considered weapons, and aren't subject to federal firearms laws. For the most part, that means little, since such guns were designed to fire obsolete black powder cartridges, and most have an extremely low rate of fire even if you can find the bullets for them.

But now some nutball is driving a truck through the exception. He's taken pre-1898 Mauser bolt-action infantry rifles (great truckloads of which are no doubt available from China today as they upgrade their military), cut them down into hunting rifle form, and converted them to the relatively low-powered carbine cartridge that the AK-47 fires. He is now (legally) selling them over the Web, sans paperwork.

Put a 4X scope on one of these babies and you, too, can give Oswald a run for his notoriety. Five shots as fast as you can work the bolt. And it's untraceable.

Great, no doubt the Feds will soon crack down, to the annoyance of harmless collectors. Jerk.