There will be some blowback for sure. There will be some protests, maybe. Perhaps a few nasty phone calls, but it wasn't this guy's fault.
The New York Post spoke to the gun shop owner who sold Payton Gendron the rifle he used to kill 10 people at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York. There were no red flags that were reported that would make him a prohibited person.
We know that Gendron threatened to shoot up his high school. He was taken in for a mental health evaluation, but that's where the story stops. What came of it?
It's another case of having enough laws on the books to stop such heinous crimes but having the authorities drop the ball. Enforce the law. Period.
At any rate, it shouldn't shock anyone that the gun shop owner feels "terrible" (via NY Post):
An upstate gun store owner said Sunday he recently sold an assault weapon to accused Buffalo shooter Payton Gendron — and that he feels “terrible” about the teen’s alleged crime.
Robert Donald of Vintage Firearms in Endicott, NY, told the New York Times he learned from federal agents Saturday night that he had recently sold the 18-year-old suspect a Bushmaster assault weapon.
“I knew nothing about it until I got the call from them,” Donald told the outlet. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Gendron previously said in a race-hating manifesto that he planned to use a Bushmaster XM-15 in his assault, which ended up killing 10 people at a supermarket Saturday.
[…]
The shop’s background check on Gendron had not turned up any red flags, Donald said.
“He didn’t stand out,” he said of the teen. “Because if he did, I would’ve never sold him the gun.
“I don’t understand why an 18-year-old would even do this,” Donald said. “I know I didn’t do anything wrong, but I feel terrible about it.”
The publication added that Mr. Donald doesn't really sell AR-15-style rifles. Vintage handguns are the core of his business. He also said that the rifle was compliant with the state's gun laws when sold. Gendron illegally tinkered with it prior to the shooting.
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