This 13-year-old tried to buy porn, lottery tickets, and a gun. Guess which one he got.

[KamaAina]

http://www.vox.com/2016/6/16/11954662/13-year-olds-can-buy-guns-omg

The ease of getting a gun in America is, at this point, terrifyingly entertaining.

In the wake of Orlando’s shooting massacre, a columnist in Philadelphia purchased an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, the gun used in some of America’s deadliest mass shootings. She was able to buy it in seven minutes. Another writer, in Vermont, purchased the same gun model from a man in a Five Guys parking lot. HuffPo bought one in Orlando, the site of the mass shooting, in a little over 38 minutes. According to Fox Business, AR-15s are flying off the shelves. (The gun used in the Orlando shooting was a Sig Sauer MCX, which is similar to the AR-15.)

But the best summation of the sad hilarity of this all might go to a segment from HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. In 2014, the show outfitted a 13-year-old boy with a hidden camera and had him try to buy things he wasn’t allowed to.

It was easier for a 13-year-old boy from Virginia to purchase a gun, a .22 caliber rifle, from a private seller at a gun show than it was for him to buy porn, cigarettes, beer, and lottery tickets. (According to Virginia State Police, you must be 18 years of age to purchase a rifle or shotgun from a licensed firearms dealer.)

Phew! Otherwise I would have had to share tonight's $310 million Mega Millions jackpot with some teenager!

[Thinkingabout]

1. Figures

[yeoman6987]

2. I agree horrible but I don't give those other merchants a pass with cameras

For a documentary. I wonder how many would have denied without cameras. The gun shows have always been a problem. We have no age limit or requirements for them. It's a wonder why terrorists don't go there to buy. Glad they don't.

[PdxSean]

13. Hidden camera?

From the quality of the video, the cameras were probably hidden.

[Old Crow]

14. I don't think the merchants knew they were on camera.

The article states that the 13-year-old was wearing a hidden camera, and from the footage taken of him when he was exiting the store, the camera isn't visible at all.

[Stonepounder]

3. Think about this for a minute.

It is easier to buy an AR-15 if you have a criminal record and are on the no-fly list and the terrorist watch list, than it is for a diabetic to buy hypodermic needles to give themselves insulin shots.

We have two diabetic dogs. In order to get the needles, I have to have a prescription for insulin on file at the pharmacy, show ID proving I am who I claim to be, and fill in a log book entry with my name, address, phone number and reason for buying the needles. Even though I am buying insulin at the same time.

Or, I can hop into my car, drive 15 minutes to Indiana to a gun show and buy an AR-15 or other semi-automatic weapon at the show and the only thing I have to show is my money.

[ZombieHorde]

5. That's really interesting to me.

I used to be able to buy them at a grocery store pharmacy about 18 years ago without any problems.

[Stonepounder]

6. It may be a state-by-state thing.

Just know what it is like here in Kentucky.

[ZombieHorde]

8. Very likely to be a state by state thing.

This was in Montana, a long time ago, so different rules for a different place and different time is surprising.

[greiner3]

9. Sorry

But lived in Louisville suburb in the late 80s and witnessed a KKK parade go by. That's my story about KY. Also have stories from other states as similar to the above but last week my neighbors' son attached a Confederate flag to the back of his SUV this was done during the last week of high school. This area is mostly white but I've never heard or saw anything like this. So one thing Trump accomplished is an increase of sales of Confederate flags

[Stonepounder]

15. Well, I live about as far north in KY as is possible.

Put a pin in a map where Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky meet and that's where I live. So, we are in the more liberal part of Ky. Not to say I don't see Confederate flags on pick-ups, but the people here are very friendly and helpful. We had an incident last Winter where a young lady (white) lost control of her car in a snowstorm and ended up in a river, stuck in her car. Two young men (black and looking like the stereotype of gang-bangers) immediatly rushed to her aid, one of them holding her head up out of the water and the other rushing to call 911. The medics credited them for saving the young lady's life. Both young men suffered from hypothermia from standing in the river holding her young lady's head so she didn't drown.

That kind of behavior is also typical of the part of Ky I live in. Along with the heroin epidemic. There are dealers who make regular car trips to Florida and the pain clinics to stock up on pain pills as well. From what I hear there are 'pain clinics' lining the highway just over the border into Fla where you can walk in and get prescriptions for all kinds of stuff just for the asking.

Country is going crazy, but there are lots of good people as well.

[IronLionZion]

12. Kentucky is in the midst of a major heroin epidemic

that is most probably why they put in strict rules on needles.

[Chuuku Davis]

19. Pretty sure that is a felony

For seller and buyer if you bought from another state

[Stonepounder]

20. That's the problem with the Gun Show loophole.

Chicago has strict gun control laws, but Straw Buyers make regular, frequent trips to gun shows in Indiana to stock up on guns, bring them back to Illinois and sell them on the black market. Of course it is illegal, but, since there is no background check and no licensing, it is just about impossible to prove. And, after the Straw Buyer sells his cache of weapons, and then they get sold on again, there is no paper trail to follow back.

But, if we try and close the Gun Show loophole and the 'private seller' loophole the NRA calls up its wholly owned Congressman and says "Vote no or else we'll primary you!". So, all we get are 'thoughts and prayers' but no legislation.

[SuperDutyTX]

4. So that was an illegal private sale?

You're not legally allowed to sell a rifle (either via 4473, or privately) to anyone under the age of 18.

They should immediately arrest that seller, unless the 13 year old had a beard and was balding.

[progressoid]

21. That's the issue.

There is virtually no oversight. And deliberately so.

[sarisataka]

7. I saw another article

That indicated the seller might have been a licensed dealer. If so he committed a felony by selling a rifle to a person under 18.

If he was a private seller then state law applies. Most states have minimum age laws to purchase and/or posess a firearm. Virginia is one of a handful of states that have no minimum age laws.

[TheBlackAdder]

10. That's a trick question. Who buys pr0n?

[IronLionZion]

11. You can get a hunting license when you're 12

and the boy scouts and similar groups will teach you how to shoot around that age too. I just googled it and it is even younger in some rural states. 10 in Alaska, Tennessee, South Dakota, Oklahoma, etc. Some states like Indiana have no age restriction. I grew up in the country and many of my friends and neighbors bought their guns as children.

http://gothunts.com/hunting-age-requirements/

Since I will be flamed for posting this, I'm for gun control and I don't own any guns.

[SuperDutyTX]

16. I certainly won't flame you..

but you can't buy a firearm until you're 18; your state laws will determine how old you need to be to possess one.

[IronLionZion]

17. In 30 states, a child can still legally own a rifle or shotgun

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/08/27/in-30-states-a-child-can-still-legally-own-a-rife-or-shotgun/

[smirkymonkey]

18. I'm sorry, but that is just effed up.

[Matt_R]

22. So the 13 year old kid...

didn't try to buy porn, cigarettes, beer, and lottery tickets from a guy off the street? I'm sure those things would be easier, I'm also sure teenagers are still outside convenience stores hassling adults to buy them beer.

edit: sometimes you have to call BS on some stories that are outrageously out of whack on how someone tries to acquire things.