ATF: Oregon Shooter Had 13 Guns, All Purchased Legally

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin listens to a reporters question during a news conference Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in Roseburg, Ore., concerning the deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College. Armed with multiple gu... Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin listens to a reporters question during a news conference Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, in Roseburg, Ore., concerning the deadly shooting at Umpqua Community College. Armed with multiple guns, Chris Harper Mercer, 26, walked in a classroom at the community college the day before and opened fire, killing several and wounding several others. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) MORE LESS
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Investigators recovered 13 guns linked to the Oregon community college shooter, all of which were purchased legally, a federal official said in a press conference Friday.

Celinez Nunez, the assistant special agent in charge of the Seattle division of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives, said six guns were recovered at Umpqua Community College in the wake of a shooting massacre on Thursday that left 10 dead, including the shooter. Another seven guns were found at the gunman’s residence.

The agency was in the process of tracing each of the weapons, Nunez said, but they identified seven that were purchased by the shooter or family members in the last three years.

“They were all purchased legally, yes,” Nunez said.

Douglas County (Oregon) Sheriff John Hanlin declined to confirm the name of the gunman or the victims, and said the investigation was “very active.” The shooter has been widely reported as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer, who was killed after he exchange gunfire with police.

“Again, you will not hear anyone from this law enforcement operation use his name,” Hanlin said, referring to Mercer. “I continue to believe those media and community members that publicize his name will only glorify his horrific actions and eventually this will only serve to inspire future shooters.”

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  1. All 13 guns purchased legally - Sheriff, do you wish to amend your testimony that expanded background checks are useless in preventing such shootings? What if the number of weapons purchased were to raise a flag during the background check for the last few purchases?

  2. Avatar for dnl dnl says:

    …and that makes all the deaths okely-dokely…
    Heaven forbid they died because of illegal ( or gun show/online) purchases!

  3. There was an armed vet with a concealed gun on campus. He explains why he kept it concealed:

    Parker explained that his military training provided him with the skills to “go into danger,” but said he felt lucky he and others didn’t try to get involved going after Mercer.

    “Luckily we made the choice not to get involved,” he explained. “We were quite a distance away from the building where this was happening. And we could have opened ourselves up to be potential targets ourselves, and not knowing where SWAT was, their response time, they wouldn’t know who we were. And if we had our guns ready to shoot, they could think that we were bad guys.”

  4. The article says that only 7 of the 13 guns have been traced so far. Why does the hed claim all 13 were purchased legally?

  5. The important question here is: were any of the poor, defenseless and inanimate guns hurt in the incident?

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