I was able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes

[Straw Man]

13. More than misleading -- outright dishonest.

The headine is I was able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes

If you read the article, he didn't actually buy a gun.

He says this:

No delay. No extensive background check. Just my recently expired driver’s license, my vehicle registration, and filling out some paperwork.

He didn't have a background check because he didn't actually buy a gun. The clerk gave him the 4473 to fill out, but then the kid backed out of the sale.

The ID is to prove that he is who he says he is. The clerk didn't notice the expiration, but it was a photo ID with corroborating documentation -- his registration.

Seconds. It took seconds for the salesman to take an AR-15 off the shelf and begin selling it to me. If I had stayed for maybe three minutes longer to fill out less paperwork than I did for the hiring process at my school’s bookstore, I would’ve driven home with an AR-15.

Right. It took seconds to take the AR off the shelf. They're not that heavy. What does "begin selling it to me" mean? It only takes seconds to "begin" doing anything, even walking around the world backwards on your hands. And his "maybe three minutes longer" is pure speculation because he didn't actually buy a gun.

But if a 20-year-old college student can walk into a gun shop and be out in minutes with an AR-15, and you believe nothing needs to be changed, you need help.

Except he was not "out in minutes with an AR-15," because he didn't actually buy a gun. He may have walked out with it in five minutes, or ten, or fifteen, or he may have failed the check and not walked out with it at all. We'll never know because he didn't actually buy a gun.

The rifle is legal. Presumably this kid has a clean record. Why are people obsessed with how long it takes to buy a gun? Would they be happier if the NICS system were less efficient? Actually, in his case, the speed of the NICS systems isn't a factor: he didn't have a NICS check because he didn't actually buy a gun.

I hope this kid isn't a journalism major, but I have a sinking feeling that he might be.