The article is two years old, but in light of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last Wednesday that ended with 17 people being killed—it’s been resurrected. And it’s totally wrong. Cody Davis, writing for The Tab, claimed that he was able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes. He was 20-years-old. This article was posted after the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. He walked into a local gun store in Virginia, looked at some guns, and detailed his observations. So, was he able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes with an expired license, as his headline suggests? No, he didn’t. In all, it was a photo op, which we find out at the very end of his post [emphasis mine]:
"I was able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes. I’m 20 and my ID is expired.
— Investigative Photog (@usaphotodude) February 19, 2018
-Cody Davis #GunReformNow pic.twitter.com/TFd1dwCwHV
After he walked me through the paperwork, all five pages of it, I told him I changed my mind and wanted to think more before I bought an AR-15. He told me it wasn’t a problem and listed the store hours if I wanted to come back. I then said thank you and walked back to my car.
Seconds. It took seconds for the salesman to take an AR-15 off the shelf and begin selling it to me. If I had stayed for maybe three minutes longer to fill out less paperwork than I did for the hiring process at my school’s bookstore, I would’ve driven home with an AR-15.
No delay. No extensive background check. Just my recently expired driver’s license, my vehicle registration, and filling out some paperwork.
Ultimately these are the laws we have, this shop hasn’t done anything wrong. But if a 20-year-old college student can walk into a gun shop and be out in minutes with an AR-15, and you believe nothing needs to be changed, you need help.
Why we can't have nice things.
— Mere Dake-O'Connor (@meredithdake) February 20, 2018
(This person did not buy an AR-15, did not fill out any paper work and did not go through the required background checks. He literally looked at a gun, then said, 'meh, maybe I'll get it later' and left before filling out paperwork and purchasing) https://t.co/1kssgx0jSX
Actually, I don’t. I’m pretty sure that a) Mr. Davis is not a criminal, so there would be no reason for him to fail this mandated background check on a gun purchase from this federal firearms licensed gun store; and b) he was of age. He could buy that rifle legally. “Extensive background check;” it’s run by the FBI, who seriously dropped the ball on this Florida shooting, having received a tip on January 5 about the shooter and then not following up on it. If there were another Cody Travis with a criminal record, then a delay could occur. The FBI has a whole section on that process. In short, after three days, the FFL dealer (i.e. the gun store) could legally transfer you the firearm if no more information is released. In some cases, the person with a name similar to that of someone who is flagged is cleared outright. It should be strongly emphasized that while the FFL dealer could legally transfer you the firearm after three days of a NICS delay, they are not required to do so. This happens to people with common names.
Most importantly, we don’t know, Mr. Travis. We don’t know anything about your conclusions because you never underwent a background check. Also, if you were still in college—I bet you had to pass on the AR-15, as most colleges bar students from possessing firearms on campus.
He didn’t buy anything. He was never subject to a NICS check. This article is fake news. Oh, and CNN’s Chris Cuomo retweeted it, adding more fuel to this fire.
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Since we’re re-upping old posts, let’s also not forget that bump stocks were signed off by the Obama administration.