Official: Gun in Va. television murders purchased legally

The gunman who murdered two Virginia journalists and wounded another person on live television legally purchased two handguns last month, including the one used in the attack, and was able to pass a required background check despite his apparent emotional problems, a federal law enforcement official said Thursday.

The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said Vester Flanagan bought two Glock 9mm handguns from a federally licensed gun dealer in Virginia, and there was nothing in his criminal background to prohibit the transaction.

The same weapon used early Wednesday morning by Flanagan to kill reporter Alison Parker, 24, and photographer Adam Ward, 27, was used to kill himself, the official said.

Flanagan's choice of weapon, the official said, also appeared to track his stated admiration for mass shooter Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people in a 2007 attack at Virginia Tech, the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. Cho, who also killed himself, used a Glock in the attack.
In a lengthy, rambling suicide message sent to ABC News, Flanagan referred to Cho as "his boy.'' He also said the June 17 Charleston church massacre "sent me over the top,'' adding that he placed a deposit on a gun two days after the South Carolina shooting that left nine dead.
The disclosures about Flanagan's weapons' purchases come as some made renewed calls for new laws to restrict firearm sales in the U.S.

Although Flanagan passed a background check, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said such checks should be required for private firearms transactions, a purchase option commonly referred to as the "gunshow loophole.''

A proposal for universal background checks was part of a raft of gun control measures that failed to gain traction in the aftermath of the 2012 Newtown school massacre.

"A background check takes two to three minutes. I just really believe everyone who purchases a firearm in our nation should go through a background check," McAuliffe said on CNN. "It shouldn't be political."

In an earlier statement issued by his office, the governor said even while the "tragedy'' was still fresh, "it is appropriate to begin to ask questions about how we can prevent these senseless events in the future.''
"Keeping guns out of the hands of people who would use them to harm our family, friends and loved ones is not a political issue; it is a matter of ensuring that more people can come home safely at the end of the day,'' he said.

Short of all-inclusive background checks, McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said the governor is seeking to prohibit gun show dealers from advertising at those events that purchases do not require background checks.

"There are easy commonsense steps we can take,'' Coy said.
Andy Parker, the slain reporter's grief-stricken father, said Thursday that he would join the ranks of families who have lost loved ones to gun violence and seek new firearms controls.
"How many times are we going to see incidents like this happen?'' Paker said on MSNBC, ticking off a list of recent mass shootings.
"We have to find a way to keep crazy people from getting guns,'' he said.

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