Navy Yard Shooter Tried to Buy an AR-15, But Couldn't, Due to State Law Against Selling Such Weapons to Out-of-State Buyers

[Update - Andy:] The New York Times story appears to be untrue. I know, I know ... I can't believe it either.

So instead he bought the one weapon specifically endorsed by Joe Biden--- a pump-action shotgun.

Not even the dreaded "semi-automatic" variety.

The gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials.

Instead, the gunman, Aaron Alexis of Texas, bought a law-enforcement-style shotgun – an 870 Remington pump – and used it on Monday as he rampaged through the Navy facility, said the officials, who requested anonymity because of the continuing investigation.

He entered the facility with the gun broken in half in a bag, then assembled it in a bathroom.

I got tipped to this the other day by someone who says he works there -- he says the security there is very lax. No metal detectors, for example.

The left is determined to make ever tragedy an indictment of their political enemies, and a validation of their worldview. That's why these massacres are so quickly politicized.

Sheriff Joe's urging to "Buy a shotgun" never made a lick of sense from a crime-reduction standpoint, since, in his own narrative, The shotgun was a deadlier weapon and, ergo, a more useful weapon for mass shooting.

So here we are. The killer ultimately took Sheriff Joe's advice and got a shotgun.

The left's argument makes no sense. What they want is a full confiscation of all guns -- that's the only way their rhetoric makes sense. But they can't do that all in one step, so they have to pick out the Scary Guns and condition the public to accept Prohibition one model at a time.

But Sheriff Joe is right -- a shotgun is a better close-quarters massacre weapon than a rifle.

So why are we talking about AR-15's, again?

Oh right. Because the left wants to pretend it just wants to get rid of The Ugly Guns. Until the public is ready to give up the others as well.

posted by Ace at 07:47 PM

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