GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, OR DO THEY?

[HairOfTheDog]

I wonder if the gunshop owner tipped off the NY LE about this couple.

If Mrs. Coleman passed a background check and had gone to the shop and picked up the guns and ammo alone, she wouldn't have been subject to arrest on the spot (unless the purchases are on the banned list, in which case I'd think the shop owner would be charged too).

Something had to tip the dealer off and he called the ATF in. I say good on the dealer!
I know we have turned down sales because two people will walk in , one guy looks the guns over and picks one out and then the other will say I will take it. A dealer has the right to refuse a sale. We/they will catch some grief for it but as soon as we point to the security camera it stops the arguing quick.

If the dealer alerted LE, I think the dealer did the right thing too. This is an example of community members being aware and responsible, and LE following up actively. Mrs. Coleman was making a straw purchase for a felon. Illegal. Had LE not been tipped and on the scene when possession transferred from she to her husband, who knows what would have happened next.

I read that the Tucson mass murderer who shot Gabby Giffords was denied a gun purchase by a Walmart clerk because the clerk considered him to be acting irrationally and unstable. Good for the clerk; even better if authorities had been alerted.

Those behind the gun counter can make a big difference in keeping guns out of the wrong hands, if they're empowered and educated to do so. I know no one wants to feel like a snitch, but I think it's really just the right thing to do for everyone's safety and ultimately for business (the more crazies that going on killing sprees, the more calls for increased gun restrictions - stop 'em in their tracks).

I hope that a lot of people who work in gun sales share your mindset.