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A comment on Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of American firearms (2015). Parent comment

Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by chroma on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @08:45PM (#31512864)
Which ones? You can only buy guns in the state which you are a resident. You'd have to find a co-conspirator who is a resident of that state and who is willing to commit a felony to get you a gun. Or you'd have to live in one state and decide to drive to another state and murder people.

The Buffalo shooter bought his rifle legally in New York. Same goes for the most recent shooter in Texas. The San Bernardino shooters bought their firearms legally in California, then modified magazines to accept more than 10 rounds. The Orlando night club shooter bought his guns legally. He even had a valid security guard license.

The only example I know of is Gilroy Garlic Festival shooter. He lived in Nevada and bought a WASR-10 (an AK variant) there, then drove to California to massacre people. While the WASR-10 is illegal in California, very similar rifles are legal in the state. Had he lived in California, he could have purchased a Palmetto State Armory GF3 (or any other CA-legal AK clone), then removed the grip fin and modified the magazine to accept 30 rounds.

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Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by pxeboot on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @10:33PM (#31513633)
Some states actually do allow non-residents to buy rifles, but I believe handguns are federally restricted to residents only.
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Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by chroma on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @11:08PM (#31513943)
Yes I did slightly simplify. There is an exception for buying rifles and shotguns from a gun store, but that still requires passing a background check and everything. Also the rifle or shotgun must be legal in the state you reside. And it is illegal to privately sell a gun to a non-resident. If the buyer is from another state, you must go through an FFL.

The point I was trying to make is that people cannot take advantage of less restrictive gun laws in neighboring states. Almost every mass shooter either got their guns legally or stole them from a close relative (often by murdering that relative). There's no glaring legal loophole that these people are using.

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Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by salgernon on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @11:20PM (#31514048)
>> then removed the grip fin and modified the magazine to accept 30 rounds.

What an oddly specific comment.

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Re:Mental illness, mass shootings, and the politics of Ameri... by chroma on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @11:29PM (#31514120)
I used to live in California. They have silly laws that require a "fin" on the grip (so you can't wrap your hand around it) and 10 round magazines. Once I moved, I fixed those annoyances.
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