The recent shooting in and around Odessa, Texas, is shining new light on an old problem: In some states, a person barred from owning a gun under the law can still buy one in a private sale, without a background check.
The West Texas shooter, Seth Ator, 36, failed a background check when he tried to purchase a gun in 2014, because he had been deemed"a mental defective" by a judge, according to law enforcement sources. He was later able to buy a gun from a private seller. He killed seven people and wounded 25 others on August 31 before being apprehended and killed by the police in a shootout.
How an engineer and a crack dealer teamed up to sell scores of unlicensed guns"Loopholes in our background checks system allow unscrupulous gun dealers and traffickers to operate in the shadows. That has deadly consequences for the safety of our communities and law enforcement officers sworn to protect us," said David Chipman, a former ATF special agent who is now senior policy advisor at Giffords, a leading gun violence prevention nonprofit.
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