April 17, 2007

Gunman's Background Check Came Back Clean

Gun Shop Owner Who Sold Cho Handgun Describes Transaction

  • Play CBS Video Video The Weapon Cho Used

    Police say Cho Seung-Hui used a 9mm Glock to commit the murders at Virginia Tech on Monday. A 9mm weapon was used in the Columbine School shootings as well. Erin Moriarty reports.

  • A Glock 19 model gun, similar to the one used in the Virginia Tech massacre. Photo

    A Glock 19 model gun, similar to the one used in the Virginia Tech massacre.  (AP Photo)

  • Photo Essay Virginia Tech Massacre

    Gunman opens fire in dorm and classroom, killing at least 32 before killing himself.

  • Photo Essay Virginia Tech Mourns

    University campus devastated by worst shooting in U.S. history.

  • Interactive In Memoriam

    Profiles of the students and staff who lost their lives in the massacre at Virginia Tech

(CBS)  When you see a powerful 9mm semi-automatic pistol in action, you begin to understand how one man could kill so many innocent people in a short time.

Correspondent Erin Moriarty reports news that a weapon like this was used in the Virginia Tech rampage comes as no surprise to Armando Fontoura, sheriff of Essex County, N.J. "When you go into a classroom, how many kids that were there, this is like shooting fish in a barrel. They are there and they are at your mercy," Sheriff Fontoura explains.

A Glock 19 is easily obtained in states like Virginia, where Cho Seung-Hui purchased one last month. "We turn down gun sales every day literally, there are so many sales we turn down to air on the side of caution, but this just looked like a clean cut young man," gun shop owner John Markell says.

Markell owns Roanoke Firearms, a shop a little over 30 miles from the Virginia Tech campus. "He was not nervous at all in purchasing the gun. He had knowledge of the gun, just a typical sale, nothing out of the ordinary," Markell remembers of his interaction with the shooter.

Click here for an interactive gallery of the victims.

After showing a government issued photo ID – his green card – and a driver's license to prove his Virginia residency, Cho Seung-Hui charged $571 on a credit card and walked out of Roanoke Firearms with a new 9 mm Glock 19 and 50 rounds of ammunition.

"If we see a resident alien with a credit card, it's usually a good indication that they're a good upstanding citizen, not someone who would go on a shooting spree," Markell says.

And Markell says an instant background check showed nothing. "It went straight through. We did the state police check with federal computers. It came back clean. No drug convictions, no felonies, domestic violence," he explains.

The 9mm, says Sheriff Fontoura, is easily concealed and easy to use and most young men are familiar with one. "Have you been to the movies lately? When you see the gunfire, most likely the weapon is a 9mm," he explains.

Movies like the Matrix are just one example; the 9mm also has a starring role in video games and music. "It’s a sexy weapon," Fontoura says. "It just looks good. And our young people are enjoying that and learning from that."

It may help to explain why so many mass shootings involve a 9mm weapon —both of the Columbine shooters were armed with one.

But it’s not just the gun that can turn a shooter into a mass killer. It's also the size of the magazine or clip that contains the ammunition that allows a shooter to fire several rounds without having to reload.

"Now when the clip comes in, you just kick it out, grab another one, kick it in and your are ready to go again," the sheriff explains.

Asked how long it takes to reload, Fontoura says, "If you are really go at it, you can do it in a matter of seconds."

Cho was able to fire 15 rounds at a time, one by one, before he would stop and reload. He was also armed with .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun that shoots 10 rounds at a time.

"Obviously he had plenty of practice because he would have had to change magazines quite frequently," says Markell. "He must have had a least half a dozen magazines with him."

The death of 32 people yesterday is sure to re-ignite an old debate.

"I see no reason to blame the gun," Markell argues. "The fault goes squarely on Mr. Cho. No one else. Nothing else. If he didn’t have that Glock he would have done it with something else."

"These are instruments of death…that’s what they are. Guns are instruments of death. They’re not for any other purpose," Fontoura says. "And we need to remember that."

© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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by dunndw April 17, 2007 10:53 PM PDT
That was without question one of the most pandering stories I've heard so far on this issue. CBS went all the way to NEW JERSEY to find a sheriff that would back the anti gun spin on the story. Fontoura should be fired. His statements that "these are instruments of death...thats what they are. NO...they CAN and ARE a deterrent to manics just like this one who are STOPPED by the mere sight of a gun in a law abiding citizens hands almost each and every day! Would it have been better if he would have used a bomb like his letters threatened? People like this sheriff are to blame right along with Hui. Their baseless fear of people being able to protect themselves created the perfect killing ground for this madman.
CBS should be ashamed for producing this piece of trash. Parroting all the same bogus claims from HCI and the brady bunch. Guns are bad...he had 15 rounds...When will people wake up from this mass media induced coma and understand that the ONLY protection from evil such as this is the ability to protect yourself. VTs campus was a gun free zone, the students couldn't even have paintball equipment. Isn't that what HCI wants for everyone? To live without guns? Now we have (another) 32 gun control failures.
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by tanksoldier April 17, 2007 11:04 PM PDT
Criminals will always be able to get guns. Banning firearms only keeps them out of the hands of those not inclined to break the law. Indeed, the VT campus is the perfect example. A criminal ignored the law and had a gun, law abiding students were unarmed, defenseless, and killed out of hand.

The law cannot protect you, cops cannot protect you... at best they can catch the criminal and avenger you. However, YOU are responsible for protecting YOU. Gun control prevents YOU from doing that.
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by sfhunter2 April 18, 2007 1:25 AM PDT
This is another example where your so called gun control fanatics will have a field day. This is not a matter of gun control. The firearm did not committ this crime and tragedy it was a person.
We should be allowed to defend ourselves from nut cases. If these students had been armed this guy would have taken a long time to decide if was worth the effort. I'm not a supporter of any more gun control laws and I think the brady bunch crowd should leave this country. The second amendment means what it says, and I stand for it.
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by dakotaranger-2009 April 18, 2007 1:31 AM PDT
So, millions of Americans don't use them to shoot targets?

A dog by it's nature is more dangerous than a firearm because a dog has a brain and has the potential to go back to it's nature. A firearm is an inanimate object that is subject to the laws of physics. A firearm can't load itself, it isn't spontaneously going to fire on it's own.

This crime was done by a monster, it wouldn't have mattered if he would have a baseball bat, a rock or a car he wanted to kill. He was a monster it was a crime HE is responsible for it.

Let me ask this, "When that Muslim ran over people in North Carolina why didn't people call for the banning of SUV's?, Why didn't CBS ask more questions about that terrorist attack?"
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by johnshaft4 April 18, 2007 4:40 AM PDT
I must insist that all people residing in this country (including you) be required to submit to a mandatory psych evaluation (Obviously, everyone is crazy except me.) All nut jobs must be weeded out and be sent to Australia.
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by drinuk April 18, 2007 4:52 AM PDT
Most people I have spoken to here in the UK find the dreadful events at VT quite unbelievable. In a country where gun laws are to say the least draconian, we still have young idiots killing each other with guns, in broad daylight on our streets and it is almost certain that if guns were more readily available as in America, we would be suffering even worse. These Dickheads will always get guns, however it must be a good idea to licence gun holders, it must make sense to have a 14 day cooling off period after application and prior to purchase. The licence should be applied for at a Federal office and not from a dealer and it should be renewed every year. The licence should note the serial number and full details including a photograph of the holder AND Assault rifles should be Banned, as should fully automatic hand guns. Surely this is a sensible way to protect the general public, whilst allowing those who wish have a gun the legal intitlement to do so. It would at least give law enforcement officers the right to prosecute those who hold guns illegally.
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by johnshaft4 April 18, 2007 4:59 AM PDT
There are between 300 and 400 million guns in this country. Virtually anyone can readily buy a hot gun for cheap on the mean streets of any US city. No questions asked... 40% of all US households, that can be readily burglarized have firearms... ANYBODY can make a bunch of guns from car antennas, springs/nails and clothespins...Lets pretend that no guns existed at all...The criminally insane can make homemade explosives/poisons to be used in mass murder. Even gasoline/propane can be crafted into very wicked things...This country needs enhanced psych services.
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by ragingideas April 18, 2007 6:11 AM PDT
Those of you who are "pro-gun" don't have a solid argument to lean on. Your idea is that you need the freedom to own a weapon so that you can protect yourself from crime. If this is your position, then I feel very sorry for you. You should immediately immigrate to another country. Why would you want to live in a country where you feel constantly in fear of crime - to the point where you feel a need to carry a gun? What a terrible way to live!

Those of us who are "anti-gun" feel that guns are a dangerous weapon that can easily be misused by even the best people. Everybody loses their temper, has bouts of depression or acts irresponsibly during their life. We are imperfect human beings and we need to be protected from ourselves. Hence, we should minimize the opportunities for ourselves to make mistakes. Especially if the misakes are irreversible and end up with tragic consequences (like this one).
Reply to this comment
by mcvet April 18, 2007 7:50 AM PDT
Every single school massacre has happened in a "gun free zone" and if a teacher or a student would have had a legally concealed weapon then maybe they might have had a chance to defend themselves.

You feel sorry for us?? I feel sorry for all those defenceless dead kids.
Posted by didntinhale at 07:48 AM : Apr 18, 2007

Why do we have Gun Laws that allow the sale of Fire Arms to people from other Countries? Why do we have gun laws that do not have Waiting Periods and DEEP background checks? Bin Laden himself could have walked into a gun Shop in this nation and bought a gun. That doesn't matter to you fascist though! No, got to protect the Reich don't you? Sieg Heil.
Reply to this comment
by mcvet April 18, 2007 7:53 AM PDT
Let me ask this, "When that Muslim ran over people in North Carolina why didn't people call for the banning of SUV's?, Why didn't CBS ask more questions about that terrorist attack?"
Posted by Dakotaranger at 01:31 AM : Apr 18, 2007

Are you saying we do NOT take away the right of people who use Car's in such a manner? I do believe ALL states in this nation remove the right of any person using an SUV in the manner the person you pointed too. We DO NOT stop people who aren't even citizens of THIS country from buying a gun but we FORCE them to be licensed and registered to drive a car!! What a country. Sieg Heil
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by mcvet April 18, 2007 7:58 AM PDT
Then Spoons are why Rosie O Donnell is fat!!!

Help me out here Sparky! Are you saying a Spoon is as deadly as a 9 mm? Now I know we give spoons to people who come to this nation to eat with, certainly NOT to kill with. Please explain to me why we sell guns to folks who come to this nation. I just do NOT understand the reasons you Fascist would want that... after all they seemed to do very good with Planes, have to wonder how well they could do with AK-47's. But hey no problem!! Sieg Heil
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by mcvet April 18, 2007 8:03 AM PDT
You feel sorry for us?? I feel sorry for all those defenceless dead kids.
Posted by didntinhale at 07:48 AM : Apr 18, 2007

Really? I DO NOT believe that, even for a minute. Those "defenceless" kids went to class UNARMED as I would hope they will always be able to do. They had a RIGHT to know that NONE of the other Kids were Armed as well. I have a grandson who I am really concerned about right now. I certainly do not want him attending any school in a state that sells firearms to anyone who wants one. He's NOT the kind of kid that likes guns, I seriously doubt he'll ever like them but he may be face with some kid who wants to correct some wrong his teacher or other student has done. Maybe you folks don't care about all this. Maybe you want your kids and grandkids to continue to be raise in the most VIOLENT nation in the Civilized World. I do not.
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by mcvet April 18, 2007 8:06 AM PDT
Good Morning and Seig Heil Mine Furher!!! They could have done the deepest of DEEP background checks on this kid and come up empty because he had no record.

If you could read as well as type you would see that he had permanent resident status..lol which made him a mamber of a much less well known group the "Legal Aliens".

I believe he had to wait 30 days to get 2 guns but with mental Illness like this would it matter?

Somthing tells me this ticking timebomb would have waited 6 mos to explode.

You "NANNY STATE" Liberal democrats really do hurt your cause by speaking out without any facts during a time of national tragedy.

Doesnt matter to a devoted communist though

Seig Heil???...lmao

So in other word's in the Fascist world you want us to live in. Kids can and should be able to buy Gun's, bring them back to campus and when pissed off at the guy who insulted him infront of his Girl just off him? Doesn't matter if they are "Legal" or not, as you Nazi's have told us OVER and OVER here, the Constitution an thus the 2nd Amendment DOES NOT apply to them. Sieg Heil.
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by gunnerv1 April 18, 2007 8:06 AM PDT
You can not just waltz into a gun store and walk out with a firearm (long or handgun) without showing/producing a form of acceptable ID, going trough some form of background check (Federal Instant Background check at minimum). You can not legally purchase a "Full Automatic" anything without being fingerprinted, photographed and submit to an interview with your local law enforcement (and he can stop the sale if he won't check off on the form), then once you have paid your money (and the cheapest full automatic is now over $3000.00 plus $200.00 transfer tax) You get to wait anywhere from 30 days to 120 days while BATFE checks you out. If you want to go the illegal route and get caught, it's a minimum of 10 years incarceration and/or $250,000.00 fine (usually both). When I was a Gun Dealer (and Machine Gun Dealer) I would turn down a coustmer if I just didn't like their looks, we have that right. I'm not defending the nut jobs, and as you can see he was "Clean cut" and he (his backbround check) came back clean. Banning guns will never stop the nut jobs. Don't tell me look at the countries that have banned guns, go ahead and look at them, if you dig, you'll find out that their violent crime rate (robbery/rape/homocide) has skyrocketed. Unarmed citizens can't fight back and the crooks know that. Lock up the nut jobs and the ACLU will have them out in less than 72 hours. The nut job that shot Reagan/Brady is almost out on the street thanks to the dilagent works of the ACLU and his Lawyers.
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by gkc99 April 18, 2007 8:47 AM PDT
The U.S. is a country, like many others, whose government gets what it wants by killing. Killing the Indians, killing the Blacks, killing the Arabs. The population of the U.S. is constantly subjected to a barrage of glorified violence in the media--TV, movies, every day, every way. It's not really too surprising when somebody takes a leaf from government and decides to make his own little war right here, is it?
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by blazercoach1 April 18, 2007 9:12 AM PDT
MCVEt,

I offer again but in a different form: Nazis were NATIONAL SOCIALISTS. Socialism is way on the LEFT of the political spectrum. They paraded themselves as a LABOR party. This is also synonymous with LIBERALISM.

Finally, this Sherrif is a fool. A gun is an instrument of death? It CAN be used as an instrument of death...like a pitchfork, carving knife, or a rope. It can also be used to stop an intruder by shooting him/her in the leg. It depends on your aim and intent.
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by lanaedawn April 18, 2007 11:12 AM PDT
Sure if you're an experienced shot you may be able to shoot an intruder in the arm or leg but chances are the average person who buys a gun for defense purposes is going to miss.

Fountoura is correct, they are instruments of death. If you want to protect yourself then take measures to do so...install a security alarm on your residence, add locks to your doors and windows, get a dog trained to protect you, move to a building with a doorman and difficult access. Guns are not meant as toys or decoration and so many people buy them for that reason. People want to hide behind "the right to bear arms" and thats fine and you have that right but I also have the right to go to my Calculus class without fear that I'm going to be shot.

I just wish that people would treat guns with respect and that some sort of system would be put into effect where the gun shop owner could go, "Hey, wait you live in the dorms on campus. I know guns are not allowed there so therefore I cannot sell you this gun"
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by tuckerndfw April 18, 2007 11:43 AM PDT
Firearms are instruments of death, that is true.

And, as such, why they are an excellent deterrent to those who would harm other people. Nothing like pointing an "instrument of death" at a would be assailant to convince him to immediately alter his behavior.

Oddly enough, these "instruments of death" result in far fewer deaths (injuries or property damage) than that "instrument of convenience," the automobile.

But, I don't hear anyone howling for the right to own and operate an automobile to be severely restricted.
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by tuckerndfw April 18, 2007 11:47 AM PDT
Anyone who thinks he can live life without risk is living in an extremely delusional world.

A person has a greater risk of being injured by an automobile than he does of being injured by an "instrument of death."

But, that doesn't seem to stop people from operating or riding in automobiles, the most deadly object on the planet.
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by gunnerv1 April 18, 2007 12:12 PM PDT
Ragingideas: Look in the National Rifleman (I know that you being a Screaming Liberal, your hands would fall off if you ever touched a publication like that) in the first few pages. It list at least eight times (every month) where the peaceful public who was legeally armed, either in their home, place of work or a parking lot defended themselves. These people did not go looking for trouble, it came to them, usally in the form of a convicted felon on parole because some bleeding heart said the he has paid for his crime against the public.
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by afather April 18, 2007 12:35 PM PDT
Let us not forget the positive side of guns in the hands of responsible citizens, It has been estimated that 2-2.5 million times a year, private citizens use firearms to protect themselves.

The Gov't is not responsible for your safety, Warren vs. DC is about three young women that called 911 twice, after no help, they were brutally raped for 14 hours, no guns were used in this crime, but one in the hands of those young ladies would have made a difference.

Let us also not forget at least two other school shootings that were cut short by armed citizens, Pearl Mississippi, the asst principal ran to his car, retrieved a gun, and help the shooter for 4-1/2 minutes till the police arrived. In VA, the Appalachian Law School, two students put to an end, the shooting rampage when they confronted the shooter.

The idea of removing all guns from society is a pleasant dream that will never be realized, we have been unable for decades to remove illegal (banned) drugs from the streets of America, how will a ban on guns do any better. If bans are truly the answer, why then did Tony Blair just a couple of weeks ago look at lowering the minimum age for jail time for illegal position of a gun, weren't they banned over a decade ago. Is this the example we should follow?

It's a simple fact, laws only effect those who chose to obey them, banning guns is a lot like putting a lock on a 3' picket fence. Who is it really going to keep out?
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by bizzzz-2009 April 18, 2007 1:05 PM PDT
The whole "no one is to blame" mentality is a symptom of a society's fear of hurting someone's feelings when they confront them on the fact they blew it.
People in this country hate confrontation. Some people might say "there was no way we could have predicted or prevented this from happening..."
REALLY? 33 people dead at the hands of one person...over the span of several hours...with shootings hours apart from each other? I find that hard believe.
I see Charles Steger, the President of Virgina Tech, got a standing ovation yesterday. Why? I don't think anyone should get a standing ovation before an investigation in complete.
You watch, more standing ovations will be given, time will pass, and nothing will be done about it. Just like the levees in New Orleans, waiting for another hurricane.
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by stevex47 April 18, 2007 2:01 PM PDT
His mental health history didn't set off any alarms in the gun purchase?
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by stevex47 April 18, 2007 2:04 PM PDT
blazercoach1,
"It depends on your aim and intent."

Tell me how you are going to mass murder any amount of people by say 100 yards with a knife pitchfork or a rope.


Reply to this comment
by jjreding-2009 April 18, 2007 3:03 PM PDT
If this animal had 2 previous stalking incidents AND had been in a mental health care centre, I wonder how that information didn't make it in. I think that the background check information needs to be much more thorough. But the NRA is against that. It's time for the gun control laws to be given teeth.
Reply to this comment
by quityercryin April 18, 2007 3:30 PM PDT
..."Tell me how you are going to mass murder any amount of people by say 100 yards with a knife pitchfork or a rope...."

Hey wasnt that done with fertilizer...let's do background checks for fertilizer purchases, yea! that works!

When a drunk driver kills someone, do they go looking for the owner of the liquor store to interview them and see if the drunk driver looked "nervous" when he/she was purchasing the alcohol??
Gimme a break, puleezzeee...

Reply to this comment
by quityercryin April 18, 2007 3:34 PM PDT
..."Tell me how you are going to mass murder any amount of people by say 100 yards with a knife pitchfork or a rope...."

Hey wasnt that done with fertilizer...let's do background checks for fertilizer purchases, yea! that works!

When a drunk driver kills someone, do they go looking for the owner of the liquor store to interview them and see if the drunk driver looked "nervous" when he/she was purchasing the alcohol??
Gimme a break, puleezzeee...

Reply to this comment
by steveger3 April 18, 2007 3:54 PM PDT
I love it! It's the NRA's fault. It's the gun lovers fault. Ahh let's see. The guy's on meds.Teacher bans him from her class because he's nuts and she's afraid of him. He's getting his meds from some doctor. I guess I don't understand why he wasen't reported to the law as a danger. Oh I forgot. We might violate his rights. Yes, I agree we need more gun control laws. 26,000 aren't enough. We need more. Many more.OR we could just put the crook in jail for life. Use a gun, you don't get past go. BUT we have these liberal judges, social workers and lawyers that pat them on the but and send them back on the street.
Reply to this comment
by quityercryin April 18, 2007 3:55 PM PDT
..."Tell me how you are going to mass murder any amount of people by say 100 yards with a knife pitchfork or a rope...."

Hey wasnt that done with fertilizer...let's do background checks for fertilizer purchases, yea! that works!

When a drunk driver kills someone, do they go looking for the owner of the liquor store to interview them and see if the drunk driver looked "nervous" when he/she was purchasing the alcohol??
Gimme a break, puleezzeee...

Reply to this comment
by steveger3 April 18, 2007 4:04 PM PDT
All you gun nuts out there need to send more money to the NRA. All you nice gun control folks don't need to send any more money to the Brady people as CBS has taken over the job.
Reply to this comment
by plainjean April 18, 2007 4:51 PM PDT
Seems to me I remember a Amish community in Pennsylvania that was recently victimized by a psychopatic killer with a gun. And the Amish response: they did not run out to their local gunshop and arm themselves; instead, they quietly preached forgiveness and went about their lives as if nothing had happened. How many people in America say they are Christian and believe in God, yet when it comes to having faith that their powerful, all-knowing God will protect them from evil they turn to the gun when their faith is tested.

And we know how the National Rifle Association is going to respond to the Virginia Tech tragedy: GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE AND STIFFER LAWS ARE NEEDED TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT.
That's a tough act with Cho Seung-Hui the shooter a suicide which is what often happens in these cases. Cho would have had little luck if he had been armed with, a screw driver, a can opener, or a cork-screw.

What ever happened to the Brady Bill and the ban on assault weapons? A SEVEN DAY WAITING PERIOD ISN'T TOO MUCH TO ASK A LAW ABIDDING CITIZEN TO WAIT TO PURCHASE A HANDGUN. Somehow I can't help believing 32 innocent Virginians would be alive today were it not for a group of insecure people who ignored what the Brady Bill, in this case, should have prevented. Remember those Pennsyvania Amish victims? "OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH!"
Reply to this comment
by pakaal April 18, 2007 6:36 PM PDT
My question is how a young adult certified by a psych evaluation at a hospital as "a danger to himself or others" does not get flagged on a background check for a gun permit?

It seems like anyone would agree the current laws regarding weapon registration don't seem quite thorough enough.
Reply to this comment
by bigcanoe2 April 18, 2007 7:21 PM PDT
Form 4473 (the Federal form you must fill out before buying a firearm and submit photo ID)
asks whether you have been in a mental inistution. If you answer yes, you are denied a firearm purchase. If this gunman answered NO,and he did, he committed a federal felony at that very instant.

What all of this says is that anyone intent on violating the law about killing people, will also violate firearms laws, and he did. But if you are giing to kill someone, which the last time I looked was also illegal, what makes anyone think that because guns are outlawed that he would obey that law? You can not outlaw guns to outlaws because by their very definition, outlaws do not obey the law.

Only law abiding people obey the law and when the outlaws have guns and they don't, guess what the outcome is going to be? Is anyone surprised by this and if so, what rock have you been living under?

The world is a dangerous place. It has always been and it will always be because there have always been outlaws and there always will be. Sam Colt made it easy for you to defend yourself. Why in the world would anyone want to outlaw his own personal defense? I don't get it? Somebopdy explain this outlaw all guns business, especially in view of the fact that we KNOW outlaws are going to get them and use them regardless of the law.
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by bigcanoe2 April 18, 2007 7:33 PM PDT
Listen up people!!! The Federal Law says that a patients medical information is PRIVATE and anyone who accesses it without the patient or the patients guardian giving them writen permision, is comitting a federal crime. You CAN NOT get information about anyone having been in a mental inistution and if you do, you have committed a crime. WHERE have you people been? Why don't you know these things? Or better yet, why doesn't CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS TELL you these things instad of saying mental incompetents should not be allowed to buy guns?

Here's news, THEY ARE BARRED FROM BUYING GUNS, but ONLY of if they tell you that they have mental problems. Otherwise you are PROHIBITED from knowing that information by federal law because of PRIVACY.

So all of you wanting to dam the firearms dealer for selling this mental case a gun need to ask your senators and congressmen and women why they outlawed gun dealers from knowing this information. THEY made the law. The gun dealer did not.
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by jfinster10 April 18, 2007 8:28 PM PDT
...Only in America. Let's continue to welcome these aliens into our USA so that they can destroy us all..........

Posted by elgraz at 05:50 PM : Apr 18, 2007

The only people who would destroy the USA is racist punks like you and all the blond blue-eyed Timothy McVeighs in this country.
Reply to this comment
by pakaal April 18, 2007 8:50 PM PDT
BigCanoe2 wrote: "Form 4473... asks whether you have been in a mental inistution. If you answer yes, you are denied a firearm purchase. If this gunman answered NO,and he did, he committed a federal felony at that very instant."

You're saying that the "background check" we keep hearing about is information provided by the person him/herself?! That's insane. It's pretty obvious we need something more substantial than a checkbox and answer provided by the potential purchaser him or herself. In fact if what you're saying is true, the background check is more of a joke than anything else.

"The Federal Law says that a patients medical information is PRIVATE"

We seem to have no problem with putting up websites showing *** offender information....

And it's funny how the government seems to have no problem waiving that privacy issue and putting out warrantless eavesdropping orders when they're talking about vague issues like "Terrorism".
Reply to this comment
by pakaal April 18, 2007 9:21 PM PDT
BigCanoe2 wrote: "Somebopdy explain this outlaw all guns business, especially in view of the fact that we KNOW outlaws are going to get them and use them regardless of the law."

Knowing America and Americans, the other end of the argument - putting guns in the hands of every American - is just as ludicrous as banning all guns. I have plenty of friends who own handguns who I trust implicitly with them, but putting guns in the hands of every American is guaranteed to raise violence way, way beyond what we have now. Just look at some of the comments on these boards if you doubt it. You want to put more guns out there into the hands of people like elgraz? Good luck with that.
Reply to this comment
by dakotaranger-2009 April 18, 2007 11:54 PM PDT
MCVet, we also have people driving without licences and insurance. A car, a spoon, a rock and any other object can be used as a weapon.

The reason I do what I do is garbage like this. I avoid criminals/and crazy people free-fire zone, for instance.
Reply to this comment
by tideluxe April 19, 2007 4:17 PM PDT
I can't handle listening to one more person blame any of this on poor gun control laws or guns in general. This nation has strict enough controls in place as is. Look at the statistics and it is obvious that violent crimes and mass murders are prominent in unarmed gun free zones.

This nation was built upon the right to bear arms. And I'm sick of the liberal agenda to alter and change the constitution for their own personal gain and benefit.

The truth is this. Had a student or faculty member been carrying a weapon. The fatalities would have been less. One person with a gun, training and resolve to engage could have made this event way smaller on the tragedy scale. Look at what happened in Salt Lake City. Who's to say how many people would have been killed if the off duty police officer wouldn't have had is concealed weapon on him.

Shame on all of you who believe America should be a gun free zone. Why don't you move out!!
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by tideluxe April 19, 2007 4:21 PM PDT
I can't handle listening to one more person blame any of this on poor gun control laws or guns in general. This nation has strict enough controls in place as is. Look at the statistics and it is obvious that violent crimes and mass murders are prominent in unarmed gun free zones.

This nation was built upon the right to bear arms. And I'm sick of the liberal agenda to alter and change the constitution for their own personal gain and benefit.

The truth is this. Had a student or faculty member been carrying a weapon. The fatalities would have been less. One person with a gun, training and resolve to engage could have made this event way smaller on the tragedy scale. Look at what happened in Salt Lake City. Who's to say how many people would have been killed if the off duty police officer wouldn't have had is concealed weapon on him.

Shame on all of you who believe America should be a gun free zone. Why don't you move out!!
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by booyaw_77 April 19, 2007 11:39 PM PDT
Save'n it up, save'n it up.. Thats why I like criminals. They're honest.
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