Tec-9

Lore & Background

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 known as the KG-9, 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. 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 115 grains (7.5 g) 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. Interdynamic USA eventually became Intratec when George Kellgren left the company and Carlos Garcia renamed it Intratec, this also led to the KG-99 having its name changed into TEC-9. 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.

In Their Own Story

The round timer ticked down as the dust settled on the bombsite. The team had no money left; their rifles were gone, traded for nothing but hope and the Tec-9s in their holsters. 'Eco round,' the captain muttered, his voice tight over the comms. He didn't need a rifle to make this count. As the Terrorist line pushed through the smoke, he drew the small black pistol. It wasn't about precision; it was about volume. He pulled the trigger and held it down, the rapid-fire chatter echoing off the concrete walls, a chaotic storm of lead that turned a desperate defense into a miraculous survival.

Reader's Guide

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.

Did You Know?

• The TEC-9 was introduced in 1984, not 1985 as sometimes claimed.
• The KG-9 was redesigned to eliminate its collapsible stock and vertical foregrip per the National Firearms Act of 1934.
• The TEC-9 was used in the 1990 Nashville synagogue shooting by Leonard William Armstrong.
• The AB-10 stands for 'After Ban' and was introduced after the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban.