Does anyone know if the gun that was used at the baseball field was purchased legally?

[frankieallen]

This would be very interesting to know, based on alot of the posts i'm reading this morning.

[MineralMan]

1. No, nobody knows the answer to that question, and won't

for some time to come. Probably, though, it was purchased legally. You can buy firearms like that one almost anywhere.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

4. Yes, buyin guns in VA as easy as beer & cigarettes... need serious, common sense gun control NOW!!!

[MineralMan]

6. In most states, that's the case.

I can drive 10 minutes to the local Fleet Farm store and leave with an AR-15 clone and as much ammo as I want. I could be home in less than an hour. I have no desire to do that, but it's certainly possible, as long as I have room on a credit card.

[hack89]

10. And if you pass the background check. nt

[MineralMan]

11. Yes. Why wouldn't I pass that check?

I have no criminal history. I've never even had a traffic ticket.

[hack89]

13. I have no doubt you would

the vast majority of gun owners do. It is the people that can't and carry illegally that are the problem

[MineralMan]

14. Actually, in the recent mass shootings, the shooters

had acquired firearms legally, based on the laws in place at the time. And that's the problem, really, isn't it?

[hack89]

15. Short of a ban and confiscation, what exactly is the answer?

I am fine with UBCs, stricter background checks, mandatory training, implementing measures to temporarily take guns from people that are judged a threat to themselves or others.

But I think back to Sandy Hook - an AWB, gun registration and a gun safe couldn't stop it.

[MineralMan]

16. I don't have an answer for that question.

I wish I did.

[hack89]

17. I think we need a stronger social safety net

I think a major factor in why Europe has lower levels of violence is that they invest in the physical, economic and mental well being of their people. Less desperate people means less violence.

[frankieallen]

20. +1000..... could not agree more.

And yes, I am a licensed gun owner.

[Hoyt]

2. Bet it was originally purchased legally, as are most. Then the owner either sold it, had it stolen,

or he/she became a terrorist. I guess the original owner could have give it away "for the cause" or some such gunner BS.

[justiceischeap]

3. As I posted elsewhere it's not real hard to purchase a gun in VA

Virginia:
No background checks for private sales
No licensing
No registration
No permit req’d for concealed carry of long guns
Open carry long guns & handguns

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

5. CRAZY!! Maybe now that Repubics have been attacked, they'll stop stonewallin gun control legislation

[Amishman]

7. They won't, their base won't let them

[Igel]

8. Long gun.

Probably legal.

From the little I've heard, probably the kind of rifle no gun-control legislation's covered. Wouldn't look bad-ass enough to scare people into thinking it's something it's not. Nobody's said it had an extra large magazine or was modified, so I'll assume not.

The only reason I'd think for it to not be legally purchased or owned is if the shooter wasn't legally permitted to own one. Not sure what laws are for giving guns, or even informal purchases in VA.

[RegexReader]

9. this incident has provoked a lot of fear & hate on the right

I'm starting to sound like a parrot on this, but the right is calling this the opening shots of Civil War 2.0.

If anything, there is going to a lot of Reeps stockpiling weapons and ammo with the moral justification that the Progressives have already started a fight. It will only escalate quicker and faster.

Just wait until someone walks up to a rally and asks them if they're LBGTQ. Or waits outside of a rally for #antifa to show up then lights them up. Don't snicker, they're saying that the civil war has already started and the Progressive were the ones that started it. Violence begets violence. This isn't going to end well.

[Lee-Lee]

12. The BATFE is certainly doing a trace right now

They by now will have been in contact with the importer or manufacturer and will know what distributor it went to, and from them what retailer, and BATFE agents are probably either at that shop or on the way to get the form 4473.

Until they complete that work anyone who says that know or have any idea is talking out their ass.

[Hoyt]

18. Appreciate your support of guns. Do you think the gun was originally purchased legally? I'd say

the odds are high that it was. What happened to it at that point is a question -- sold in a back alley or at a gun show without a background check, stolen because they weren't secure, or the original owner became a terrorist. Fact is, gun lovers are irrational as to background checks, registration, restrictions on gun toting, etc.

Hope all your guns are safe.

[Lee-Lee]

19. Any conjecture is just that- conjecture.

Looking at the information we have now and the shooter and that he is from Illinois I will say that if he did buy it legally than he bought it in a state that not has 100% licensing for gun owners and mandates "private sales" have the seller call the state police and ensure the buyers firearms license is current, so all sales have background checks.

[Lee-Lee]

21. For the answer to that- yes

They have released the results of the trace.

https://www.uscp.gov/sites/uscapitolpolice.house.gov/files/wysiwyg_uploaded/FBI%20Joint%20Press%20Release%20-%20Alexandria%20Shooting%20Update%20%206.15.17.pdf


Purchased in Illinois, one of the more restrictive states to buy firearms and one of the few that has mandated licensing of gun owners.