One of the guns that Cho Seung-Hui used in the Virginia Tech shootings was purchased from The Gun Source, an online gun store based in Green Bay.
It's no surprise that the site couldn't handle the traffic.
Here's what visitors find:
Maybe my perception is skewed, but it seems that Wisconsin always figures into national stories. So often, there's some sort of connection.
So one of the murder weapons used in the worst act of gun violence in American history was purchased from a Wisconsin store.
Watch a raw interview of store owner Eric Thompson here.
From Milwaukee's NBC affiliate, TMJ4:
Eric Thompson, owner of TheGunSource.com said the ATF agents who came to interview him were friendly and non-threatening. He said everyone is "on the same page" in terms of keeping people safe and following the letter of the law.
He said Cho sent an email with two questions. “What they were basically was just asking a little bit more detail about the firearm and and how new it was," Thompson said.."The second question was about where he would like us to send it."
TEXT OF EMAILS FROM VA TECH SHOOTER TO THEGUNSOURCE.COM IN GREEN BAY:
“IS WALTHER P22, PRODUCT 10632, SECOND GENERATION? WHAT YEAR WAS THE ASSEMBLY DATE?”
“THE DEALER THAT I CHOSE DON'T FAX THEIR FFL, THEY ONLY MAIL IT, SO I THINK I WANT MY ORDER PUT ON HOLD & SEE IF I CAN FIND ANOTHER DEALER.”
Thompson said that when he sends out a firearm he has to send it to a federally licensed dealer, to comply with all state and federal laws.
“We sell about 400 weapons a month at this point right now, and it is 100 percent legal," he said. "We never ship guns directly to a customer."
Thompson said Cho ordered the weapon on Feb. 2, and GunSource shipped it out on Feb. 5. Thompson said the dealer in Virginia received it on Feb. 8.
"It’s just absolutely tragic. I’ve got three small children myself, and I can’t even fathom something like this happening," Thompson said. "And it’s just an unbelievable tragedy."
It's really an incredible interview.
In spite of learning that Cho used his store to purchase one of the murder weapons, Thompson is remarkably poised.
This has to be a nightmare for him. Nonetheless, he seems to be in complete control. He doesn't fit that maniac, gun crazy stereotype that the Left likes to employ.
When he says that he feels sick to his stomach about selling Cho a gun, I believe him. I believe that he's really hurting.
From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
"I just feel completely terrible about this," [Thompson] said.
Thompson's Web site linked Thursday to a site where donations could be made for the victims' families. Thompson said he has donated but declined to say how much.
He also said one of his employees late Thursday received a threatening phone call from a person angry about the gun sale.
Thompson, 34, launched the online shop in 1999. He said handgun sales make up about 30% of his business. He said the Virginia Tech shootings were tragic but would not shut down his company.
"There are 1,000 laws in place. Everybody did what was right from a legal standpoint," he said. "How can you ever know the mind of a madman?"
It's kind of ironic that one of Thompson's employees would be threatened by a person angry about the sale. So much for non-violence.
I feel sorry for Thompson. What are the odds that he would find himself in the center of this?
He shouldn't even consider shutting down his business. Does a car dealer shut down when a fatal accident occurs involving a vehicle bought off his lot?
I hope hateful people don't blame and harass Thompson for the bloodshed. He had absolutely nothing to do with it. There is no blood on his hands.
It should be remembered that a gun is an inanimate object. It can't do anything. It didn't kill anyone.
Cho was the killer, not the gun.
_________________________
This isn't Thompson's fault.
A judge's ruling on Cho Seung-Hui's mental health should have barred him from purchasing the handguns he used in the Virginia Tech massacre, according to federal regulations. But it was unclear Thursday whether anybody had an obligation to inform federal authorities about Cho's mental status because of loopholes in the law that governs background checks.
Cho purchased two handguns in February and March, and was subject to federal and state background checks both times. The checks turned up no problems, despite a judge's ruling in December 2005 that Cho "presents an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness."
...Virginia State Police send information on prohibited buyers to the federal government. They maintain that the sale was legal under state law and would have been barred only if the justice had committed Cho to a psychiatric hospital. Barnett ordered outpatient treatment instead.
..."The law is very confused about this," said Richard Bonnie, a professor of law and psychiatry at the University of Virginia who heads a state commission on mental-health reform. "The source of the confusion is the relation between federal and state law."
All of this is hindsight.
Cho wasn't committed to a hospital so no laws were broken in the sale of the gun to him.
I wouldn't call it a background check "loophole."
"Loophole" implies that the evil gun lobby found an underhanded way to get guns into the hands of nutcases.
That's just not true. It's not fair.
Absolutely no one wants mentally ill people to purchase guns.
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