Colion Noir Examines the Rare Colt Monitor Rifle Spotted in Haiti

In this video, Colion Noir breaks down footage of a Haitian gang leader carrying what observers identify as a Colt Monitor, one of the rarest machine guns ever made, and asks how it got there.

Snapshot

Colion Noir examines footage of a Haitian gang leader with what appears to be a rare Colt Monitor, covering the rifle's roots as a shortened BAR adopted by the FBI, its clumsy handling, and how federal machine gun rules left only a handful on the registry. He argues decades of gun laws have mainly burdened lawful owners while criminals, even under an arms embargo, keep getting weapons.

Key points

• Identification: reporting from Hammer Intel cited in the video identifies the rifle as a Colt AR-80 Monitor pattern rifle, possibly a Browning Automatic Rifle conversion, one of about 125 that Colt made.
• Origin: Colt shortened the .30-06 BAR into the Monitor, which the FBI adopted in 1933 because the Thompson could not reliably punch through cars criminals used as cover.
• Handling: with an 18-inch barrel and Cutts compensator, Colion Noir says it handles "like a bus" and he would rather have a .308 SCAR; Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons reached a similar view after firing one.
• Legal scarcity: the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the 1986 freeze on the civilian machine gun registry leave an estimated 10 or fewer Monitors on the NFA registry.
• Embargo: Haiti has been under a UN arms embargo targeting these groups since October 2022, and no outside observer has pointed to a paper trail for the rifle.

Quick take

Colion Noir argues that federal gun laws since the 1930s have mostly burdened collectors, dealers and gun owners who fill out the forms and wait for approval, while criminals keep finding ways around them, from 1930s armory thefts to a gang leader under an arms embargo.

Watch the full video: Colion Noir