Loophole in Pennsylvania law allows for easy purchases of assault weapons
Investigators said the 19year-old man accused of killing17 people Wednesday in a shooting rampage at a Florida high school purchased his gun legally last year at a tactical supply shop.
In Florida, the AR-15 rifle that Nikolas Cruz is accused of using in the slaughter at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was easier to obtain than a handgun.
There is a three-day waiting period when buying handguns in Florida. But there is no waiting period when purchasing a shotgun or rifle. An individual can go to a gun store and leave with a semiautomatic as long as that person passes a background check.
Gun laws in Pennsylvania are similar to those in Florida, except there is no waiting period to buy a handgun here.
Individuals in Pennsylvania who buy firearms or receive them in a transfer through a licensed dealer must go through a background check. However, an unlicensed dealer can sell a shotgun or rifle to an unlicensed buyer without a background check.
“We have this loophole,” said Shira Goodman, executive director CeaseFirePA. “It’s about where you get the gun and who the seller is.”
In November, state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, prompted by mass shootings in California and Texas, said he would review ways to improve gun safety in Pennsylvania without legislative action.
Mr. DePasquale on Thursday said the review remains ongoing, and he expects to release its results sometime in the fall.
“We just have to find this unacceptable, it’s happening way too often,” Mr. DePasquale said. “This type of mass shooting cannot be acceptable.” of Mr. DePasquale that the review will be multi-faceted and focus on the enforcement of laws already on the books and mental health as well as other issues.
The auditor general said he will meet with groups that have a variety of perspectives on gun laws, including gun safety advocates, sporting groups, mental health professionals and law enforcement.
He said that gun violence must be addressed on the state level because the federal government has failed to act in the wake of mass shootings.
Ms. Goodman said there’s “unwillingness” at both the state and federal levels to takelegislative steps that she says would “save lives.” She said current firearm regulations miss too many people who could pose a threat, such as a person with a clean background who happens to be going though an imminent crisis and decides to buya gun.
Semiautomatic rifles have been involved recently in local high-profile crimes.
An AR-15 rifle was among the weapons Timothy O’Brien Smith used to kill four people in January at a car wash in Fayette County. Also last month, police found a semiautomatic rifle in the bedroom of a 14year-old boy who threatened to shoot students at Uniontown Area High School.