Ex-gun store owner pleads guilty in Las Vegas to federal firearms charges

Kelly Carn, the former owner of a popular gun store, has pleaded guilty in federal court to weapons charges.

Carn, 58, known as “Machine Gun Kelly,” pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three felony counts of unlawful receipt or possession of a machine gun. The crimes occurred while he owned the Gun Vault Inc. in southeast Las Vegas.

State records show that the Gun Vault’s corporate license expired on Aug. 31.

A dozen other charges, including forging federal gun registration applications, will be dismissed at Carn’s Oct. 6 sentencing before U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon.

His deal with the government comes a few days before he was to stand trial in Gordon’s courtroom.

Carn, who is free on his own recognizance, was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2013. The indictment alleged that his illegal activity occurred between September and December of 2011.

His lawyer, Craig Perry, did not return phone calls this week.

In January, Carn pleaded guilty to a theft charge in Clark County District Court to resolve an earlier firearms case. He was placed on probation for up to five years and ordered to pay more than $137,000 in restitution, court records show.

Carn was accused in that case of unlawfully selling a machine gun and of theft in other sales of machine guns, silencers and short-barrel weapons that were never delivered.

Police alleged he “preyed upon” people unfamiliar with the process of getting federal approval to possess a machine gun.

Carn took money after falsely claiming he would submit paperwork for purchasing the weapons to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, police alleged.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find @JGermanRJ on Twitter.