Interdynamic AB, a Swedish
firearms manufacturer based in
Stockholm, designed the
Interdynamic MP-9, intended as an inexpensive
9mm submachine gun based on the
Carl Gustav M/45 for military applications. The firearm was initially intended for adoption by the South African
apartheid government, though it was rejected and shipped to various other nations. Ultimately, Interdynamic did not find a government buyer. As a result, the weapon was taken by lead designer
George Kellgren to the United States domestic market as an
open-bolt semi-automatic pistol, redesigned to eliminate its collapsible stock and vertical foregrip features per the
National Firearms Act of 1934 and marketed under the subsidiary Interdynamic USA brand. Interdynamic USA was operated by George Kellgren, Carlos Garcia and Mercedes Garcia. This company eventually became Intratec when George Kellgren left the company and Carlos Garcia renamed it Intratec. Still, the design was deemed too easy to convert to an
automatic weapon. Due to this, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) forced Interdynamic USA to redesign the firearm into a
closed-bolt system, which was harder to convert to an automatic weapon. This variant was called the KG-99, and was popularized when it made frequent appearances on the popular television show
Miami Vice, where it was legally converted to full auto by
Title II manufacturers. The KG-9 and KG-99 have an open-end upper receiver tube where the
bolt, recoil springs, and
buffer plate are held in place by the plastic/polymer lower receiver frame. This design only allows for 9mm ammunition, and if a heavier grain ammunition or hot loads are used, the plastic lower receiver will fail or crack, rendering the firearm unusable. Later versions of the TEC-9 and AB-10 had a
threaded upper receiver tube at the rear and a screw-on end cap to contain the bolt, recoil spring, and buffer plate even if removed from the lower receiver, solving the problem of lower receiver failure when using hot ammo.
Reputation and legislation Following the 1989
Cleveland School massacre, the TEC-9 was placed on
California's list of banned weapons. To circumvent this, Intratec rebranded a variant of the TEC-9 as
TEC-DC9 from 1990 to 1994 (with
DC standing for "
Designed for
California"). The most noticeable external difference between the TEC-9 and the later TEC-DC9 is that rings to hold the sling were moved from the side of the gun with the cocking handle to a removable stamped metal clip in the back of the gun. In 1993, the weapon was the subject of further controversy following its use in the 101 California Street shootings That same year, California amended the 1989
Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act (AWCA), effective January 2000, to ban handguns having features such as
barrel shrouds. During the 1990s the TEC-9 also developed a reputation for its use by American
street gangs and organized crime syndicates, who were attracted to the large capacity 32-round magazines and low cost of the firearm. The TEC-9 was produced from 1985 until 1994, when the model and TEC-DC9 variants were banned nationally in the United States, among the 19 firearms banned by name in the now-expired 1994
Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB). This ban forced Intratec to cease their manufacture, and forced them to introduce a newer model. The following year Intratec introduced the
AB-10 ("AB" standing for "
After
Ban"), a TEC-9 Mini without a
threaded muzzle/barrel shroud and sold with a smaller 10-round magazine instead of 20- or 32-round magazines. However, the AB-10 still accepted the larger capacity magazines of the pre-ban TEC-9 models which were often acquired by users in place of the standard magazine. In 1999, the TEC-DC9 Mini was notoriously used by
Dylan Klebold, one of the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre, ending with him using it to take his own life. In 1994, the TEC-9 was used by murder suspect Bennie Lee Lawson in a shooting at
Henry Daly Building in
Washington, D.C., killing two FBI agents, one police officer and wounding another FBI agent and a civilian before taking his own life. The TEC-9 was also used in the 1990 drive-by shooting at
Nashville, Tennessee,
West End Synagogue by Grand Wizard of the
Ku Klux Klan Leonard William Armstrong. In 2001, the
Supreme Court of California ruled that Intratec was not liable for the 1993 101 California Street attacks, and that same year Intratec was
dissolved and production of the AB-10 model ceased. Although still found on the used firearms market and legal on the federal level since 2004, the TEC-9 and similar variants are banned, often by name, in several US states including California,
New York,
New Jersey, and
Maryland.
Imitation made illegally in Europe Quantities of an illegally-made 9mm
machine pistol were seized in Europe in 2017. Despite being
improvised weapons (and not developed by Intratec) they were nonetheless marked as "Intratec TEC-9", believed to possibly have been done as a means to improve the street value of the weapon. ==See also==