Vester Flanagan Bought Gun Legally From Virginia Dealer, Officials Say
Posted by jhingarat21 on 28th Aug 2015
Law enforcement officials say Vester Flanagan used a Glock handgun in Wednesday’s shooting, one of two that he
bought last month.
The officials say he legally bought two Glock model 19 handguns, one of the world’s most
widely sold firearms, from a
Virginia dealer that they declined to identify.
Though Flanagan said in his letter to ABC News that he “put down a deposit for a gun” on
June 19, the background
check requirement would not kick in until he actually sought to take possession of the gun,
which was in July. Putting
money down on firearms is common, especially in the South, says a federal law enforcement
official.
Nothing in Flanagan’s background disqualified him from buying a gun. He was arrested in
Greenville, North Carolina, in
2004. But that case was for a traffic offense that, according to court records, was later
dismissed. It was a misdemeanor
charge: Even if he had been convicted, it would not have made him ineligible.
As for his mental health, the standard in federal law is very high: “adjudicated as a mental
defective” or “committed to a
mental institution.” Nothing in Flanagan’s history indicates that either standard fit him, despite
his reputation as an unstable co-worker.