Gun sharing again: Kansas shooter got guns from a friend, say investigators

[lostinblue 1,989]

Gun sharing again: Kansas shooter got guns from a friend, say investigators

The weapon used by a shooter to kill three people at a Kansas factory was purchased by a friend. Isn't that what happened in the San Bernadino shooting?

The lone-gunman scenario often appears in the aftermath of highly reported shooters, but in at least three recent high-profile shootings, a friend assisted by providing the guns.

Sarah Hopkins of Newton, Kansas, was arrested Friday and charged with knowingly providing a convicted felon with firearms, for which she could face up to 10 years in prison or $250,000 in fines under Kansas law, according to a court document. Investigators say she gave a Zastava Serbia AK-47-type semi-automatic rifle and a Glock Model 22 .40-caliber handgun to Cedric Ford.

Police say Ford killed three people and injured 14 others Thursday at Excel Factories, a lawn-equipment company where he worked. Ford was in turn fatally shot by police Thursday.

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Ms. Hopkins bought both guns from a pawn shop in Newton, Kansas, in 2014, reported the Wichita Eagle.

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Ms. Hopkins, the mother of two of Ford's children, had been living with him the previous year, but she had left and, accompanied by police, retrieved her guns from his home after she moved out, according to USA Today. She told investigators she had returned the guns to Ford in August because he had threatened her.

From a law enforcement perspective, the shooting in Kansas shows some similarities the Dec. 2 shooting in San Bernardino, in which 14 were killed and 24 injured. In both cases, the actual shooters died at the hands of police, but the firearms they used to kill a total of 17 people came from friends.

In the San Bernadino case, Enrique Marquez told investigators he had collaborated with shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, even purchasing the two rifles they used in the shooting. Such gun sharing, as in the Kansas case, need not be directly related to the crime to be illegal. "Straw purchases" occur when someone intentionally buys a gun for a friend or family member who could not legally purchase it otherwise, Jay Wachtel, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agent, told PBS Frontline. This is one of the most common ways criminals obtain guns, The Christian Science Monitor reported:

Marquez's illegal gun transfer to the couple also highlights so-called straw purchases, when a gun is bought by someone who intends to give it to someone else. According to a PBS "Frontline" report, such gun sales are often easy to spot, with both individuals visiting a gun dealer together to make the purchase, and

account for a significant percentage of guns used in crimes,

versus only 10-15 percent that are stolen.

There are differences between the role of friends in the Kansas and San Bernardino shootings. Ms. Hopkins told investigators she was threatened by Ford, and there is no evidence at this point that she participated in the planning of the shooting. Since she knew about Ford's criminal background, however, Hopkins faces charges for giving Ford her guns.

In December, Stephen Silva, was sentenced to time served because he loaned a gun to Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Tsarnaev used the gun to kill a police officer shortly after the Boston Marathon bombing. Mr. Silva said in court that he had loaned the gun to Tsarnaev so he could rob University of Rhode Island students two months before the bombings, and he had made a series of excuses for not returning the gun.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/0227/Gun-sharing-again-Kansas-shooter-got-guns-from-a-friend-say-investigators

We need more background checks according to the Kenyan

[ExPatty 502]

Exact same thing happened in Rochester, NY in the event that helped create sweeping gun law change in NY in 2013:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/09/17/Woman-gets-prison-for-buying-guns-used-to-kill-firefighters/9411410979468/

When this event happened this week, before the news mentioned anything about whether he should have had guns, I noticed he had felony convictions and thus the guns were illegal. Combined apparently with many pics on his facebook of him with guns, I wonder why nobody who saw those, and knew he was a felon, ever reported him to the police.

[yuna628 9,882]

$250,000 fine is not enough. Significant jail time for her I say. Her actions led to participating in his murders. Being ''threatened'' by him does not make someone go out to buy a gun or give guns to/for the 'threatener', and does not absolve the person of knowing right from wrong. How deep can background checks go exactly? Could they have picked up on her associations with a known and convicted felon?

[lostinblue 1,989]

$250,000 fine is not enough. Significant jail time for her I say. Her actions led to participating in his murders. Being ''threatened'' by him does not make someone go out to buy a gun or give guns to/for the 'threatener', and does not absolve the person of knowing right from wrong. How deep can background checks go exactly? Could they have picked up on her associations with a known and convicted felon?

Until she has broken a law she has a clean background check. ... If your husband or wife is convicted of drunk driving . Should they come and not allow anyone in the family to own a car ?.. On the theory that the convicted drunk could at some point drive it. ... In some states a requirement is that the guns be secure from the felon in the home . ... But they still could be in the home .I know a family where the wife was taking an opiate and after she was pulled off that drug by her doctor she tried and failed to get more by forging the doctors orders. She was convicted of a felony . Should her husband an avid hunter loose his 2nd rights because of this non violent felony by a member of his family ?

[Ban Hammer 14,300]

She told investigators she had returned the guns to Ford in August because he had threatened her.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Exact same thing happened in Rochester, NY in the event that helped create sweeping gun law change in NY in 2013:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/09/17/Woman-gets-prison-for-buying-guns-used-to-kill-firefighters/9411410979468/

When this event happened this week, before the news mentioned anything about whether he should have had guns, I noticed he had felony convictions and thus the guns were illegal. Combined apparently with many pics on his facebook of him with guns, I wonder why nobody who saw those, and knew he was a felon, ever reported him to the police.

If I recall that man had beat his grandmother to death with a hammer . 70-80 hits to the head after he pushed her down the stairs ....Liberal policies let him out on the streets to kill again. He should have been put to death ... Cannot do that can we. ... Blame the guns right

[Boiler 47,536]

What about his human rights?