Link to the story:
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/news/WABC_investigators_103102rifle.htm
Does A Legal Loophole Allow Anyone To Buy An Assault-Style Rifle Like The One Used By The Sniper?
(New York-WABC, October 31, 2002) — Just how easy is it to buy a military-style assault rifle without undergoing a background check? The Eyewitness News Investigators go undercover to for the answer. They discovered a loop hole in the gun laws when they set out to try and buy a gun similar to the one used by the DC-area sniper. Jim Hoffer went undercover to test the state's gun laws and brings us the story.
Watch the Story ...| Latest In The DC-Area Sniper Case
One of the many disturbing questions coming out of the DC-area sniper case, is how did someone with a protective order against him get his hands on an assault rifle. Background checks are supposed to catch any buyers troubled history, be it criminal or psychological. But as we found out, that was not the case in the world of private gun sales, where legally military-style rifles are bought and sold anonymously.
The ease in which you can buy a military-style assault rifle on the Internet is astonishing. In minutes, I found an AK-47-type semiautomatic rifle for sale in Westchester County. After a few emails back and forth between the gun owner and me the sale was complete.
Hours later, I picked up the gun at the sellers' home without ever revealing my identity, without any background check. All of it legal because no check is required when buying rifles privately outside New York City.
For $700, I was able to buy 200 rounds of ammunition, four 30-round magazine clips and a semiautomatic assault-like rifle with a high-powered scope, which makes it easy for even a novice like me to shoot accurately.
Lt. Frank Bisceglia, Harrison Police Department: "It's a scoped weapon, which makes it accurate and able to be used by just about anyone, in that they're able to put the cross hairs... center of cross hairs on their target and hit it very easily."
Lt. Frank Bisceglia is a firearms instructor for the Harrison Police Department. He demonstrated the devastating power of the gun I so easily bought online. It's bullets nearly pierced a quarter inch thick steel plate.
Lt. Bisceglia: "You can see where it actually melted the steel. The round actually melted the steel. It came very close to going through. I believe that these weapons should be very limited. Their use is limited. And not just anyone should be able to own a weapon like this."
I was able to buy this assault-style rifle with less than the information required to rent a movie or borrow a library book. And that is because in the state of New York anyone can buy any rifle from a private seller without revealing anything about their background.
To some that is a law that borders on the insane.
Andy Pelosi, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence: "The sniper situation, I think, highlights the problem we are seeing. The potential for disaster. For the wrong folks to go through what are still legal channels and obtain weapons."
Three years ago, Eyewitness News went undercover to expose how you could legally buy a small arsenal of weapons at guns shows in New York without any identification.
Governor George Pataki, New York (February, 1999): "It's one that we will look into. I am clearly not comfortable that that can happen."
After our investigation, the governor made background checks on the sale of all gun show firearms mandatory. Now, some are calling for him to do the same for private gun sales.
Jim Hoffer, Eyewitness News: "You can get on the Internet, like we did, and the very next day you can walk out of someone's house with this gun."
Lt. Bisceglia: "Yes, and that's the part that makes it ludicrous."
Had I purchased the rifle through a gun dealer, the FBI Data Center would have run a computer background check to ensure I had no criminal record. This year alone, the FBI has blocked the sale of 46,000 guns, most of them to convicted felons.
But because I bought the gun from a stranger I found on the Internet, no check was required. It is a loophole that New York's senior senator finds chilling.
Senator Charles Schumer, New York: "If you are crazed criminal, like the sniper in Maryland, a terrorist, you can find your way to buy a very, very powerful assault-like weapon here in America. That shouldn't be."
The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association tells Eyewitness News that a law requiring background checks for private rifle sales will not stop guns from getting into the hands of criminals. A spokesman says it will only place an unfair burden on law abiding citizens.
We should also note that we made several attempts to get a comment on our investigation from Governor Pataki's office, but this is apparently not an issue he want to talk about now.
Cant belive someone paid $700 for what looks like a SAR 1 ! They need to go back to westchester and get about $400. back. Also in the promos yeterday they touted it as an AR. Sounds to me like they went straight to Harrison PD to "turn the weapon over" after the sale was complete , Good sheeeple! So much for objective journalism.