20/20 undercover at Richmond gun show

abcgun1ABC is airing a special on 20/20 tonight that is highly critical of Virginia’s  gun laws, which critics say are too lax.

They send Omar Samaha, whose sister was killed two years ago at Virginia Tech, to a gun show in Richmond with $5,000 and one hour to buy as many guns as he can.

Samaha got 10 guns in all –without any background checks. In one transaction the dealer asked for ID, and when Samaha said he didn’t have one the dealer upped the price by $100 to compensate for the risk. ABC News has the full summary here.

BizSense covered the surge in Virginia gun sales last November. Record gun sales have continued since then over fears of a possible Obama-led ban and an increase in recession-fueled crime.

abcgun1ABC is airing a special on 20/20 tonight that is highly critical of Virginia’s  gun laws, which critics say are too lax.

They send Omar Samaha, whose sister was killed two years ago at Virginia Tech, to a gun show in Richmond with $5,000 and one hour to buy as many guns as he can.

Samaha got 10 guns in all –without any background checks. In one transaction the dealer asked for ID, and when Samaha said he didn’t have one the dealer upped the price by $100 to compensate for the risk. ABC News has the full summary here.

BizSense covered the surge in Virginia gun sales last November. Record gun sales have continued since then over fears of a possible Obama-led ban and an increase in recession-fueled crime.

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Raymond Patton
Raymond Patton
15 years ago

CBS should be condemed for what they did to those children,anyone careless enough to leave a gun in a toy box just to get a reaction should do jail; time,those children were not old enough to know a real gun from a toy gun and allowing them handle it,point it and look into the muzzle of it even once is the same as telling them it is okay to do that,as for those teens and older people,you can’t legislate stupidity,no law in the world will stop it.And now we come to the Police,don’t try and pass the police off as… Read more »

Mac
Mac
15 years ago

I applaud ABC for showing what happens at gun shows. To those who are so upset, why are you angry at a network for showing the truth? To those who say “so, buying a gun w/o a background check is legal in 38 states” I would respond by saying that it used to be legal for doctors to perform medicine. The gun rights groups better stop taking such a hard line. All they are doing is fueling the hysteria and allowing mass murder on a scale we have never seen. Anyone who believes the NRA-backed “Obama wants your guns so… Read more »

Joe Doe
Joe Doe
15 years ago

You people are complete idiots…… The guns shown, and obviously you all know nothing about guns, are VERY expensive…. not all of them, but many of them. I dare you to find an AR-15 (m16 looking gun) that he bought for under $1000. The same goes for the AK he bought you can label them assault rifles all you want, but you can buy a ruger mini14 that isnt an assault rifle but shoots the same round as an m16 then get 30 round clips. They doctored this show sooooo badly to make you tree hugging peacenik obama voting sheeple… Read more »

idaho
idaho
15 years ago

The story was a complete propaganda piece. I’m sure that if Joseph Goebles was alive he would admire the twisting of reality to make a political point. The real story of most gun massacres are that they happen in ‘gun free’ zones were crazy people know they stand the best chance of killing unarmed people. There are very few mass shootings at gun shows because the perp would get wasted in a hurry. Austrailia recently banned many types of guns and the criminals are having a heyday. Too bad ABC is too committed to disarming law abiding Americans to report… Read more »

mark b
mark b
15 years ago

Joe, Idaho — Geez, Those ARs could be found for 700 bucks before folks started hyperventilating about some fantasy Obama kristallnacht. Welcome to the free market in action: you tell ghost stories, you start to believe ghost stories, free market takes your money. The dealers are laughing all the way to the bank just like Exxon and $5 gas. But your math sucks. 5k will get you a half dozen decent handguns of various calibres and and enough shoulder stock that you’ll be tired by the time you’ve lugged it all to the car. The point isn’t taking guns away,… Read more »

idaho
idaho
15 years ago

Mark B, once again, you use a less common example, in this case the Pittsburg cop shooting to make a general point. Once again I’ll state the overwhelming fact that most mass shootings take place in gun free zones. The world is a dangerous place. Police usually respond after a crime and file reports. As to your assertion that I sit in my dark home shivering in paranoia that a bad guy will kill me, you are sadly mistaken. I have supreme confidence in my own ability to protect my family due to years of training with firearms. I will… Read more »

mark b
mark b
15 years ago

Idaho, it wasn’t an assertion it was a simile, or maybe an inference if you’re feeling particularly neurotic. The “boogie man” was a metaphor for Obama’s gun confiscating nanny-state shock troops, not some burglar. A guy crawls in your kid’s window, I wish you steely heart and steady hand.And the “research” line is cute but that dog won’t hunt. It’s half what I do 9-5. Yes indeed, the world is a dangerous place. Thanks for the update. And those cops didn’t expect to walk into a one-man Tet Offensive. Okay, a more common example: Are we to arm Amish schoolchildren… Read more »

Vincent
Vincent
15 years ago

The gun show loophole nonsense was just that. There are no laws that keep one person from seeling a gun to another in a private sale that people do every day in every state just as you would sell a knife or a car or a screwdriver. If a person buys guns from a gun dealer at a show, they must be background checked. I bought one in Florida and they background checked me. The police cannot protect my home but I surely can now. If you think I am going to sit by while an intruder rapes and kills… Read more »

idaho
idaho
15 years ago

Mark B, easy on the stereotypes dude. Typical of the left you assume that those who exercise their 2nd amendment rights are stupid good ole boys. My comment about doing research was serious. You should study crime rates where gun laws are strict, they are higher. If you keep eating up the talking points of the liberal left, you will continue to focus on SUV’s and guns killing people and fail to attribute accountability to individuals who are responsible for their own crimes, as if touching a gun or driving an SUV wakes up the inherent evil inside everyone and… Read more »

Cecil
Cecil
15 years ago

The Virginia Tech shooter LEGALLY purchased his weapons from a Licensed dealer. More legislation WILL DO NOTHING but hurt law abiding citizens. California has the strictest Assault Weapons Ban in the nation and thousands of other anti gun laws on the books. Did any of those laws help the four Oakland Police Officers gunned down by a FELON who coincidently DID NOT purchase the weapons used to commit murder from a gun show. Would one, fifty or a hundred more laws have stopped any of these murders?….NO! We need to enforce the laws we already have on the books. Remove… Read more »

K
K
15 years ago

I was actually at Dominion Gun Range in Southside the day 20/20 showed up to roll some footage of an old guy shooting through a scope. Figured something like this was in the works.

BPB Licensed dealer
BPB Licensed dealer
15 years ago

If these “licensed” FFL dealers sold firearms and did not preform a NICS check then they violated the federal law. Since 20/20 gave 5g to another person to purcase firearms this is considered a straw purchase. So we have at least 12 people who should be arrested~20/20~dealers and the purchaser. Who has the 10 firearms now? The question is, were these dealers licensed dealers or were they people conducting private sales? In NY, the shows I attend you can not sell firearms anyplace on the grounds unless you are a licensed dealers and NICS check is preformed. I saw the… Read more »

Cecil
Cecil
15 years ago

When a firearm is purchased it must be for the use of the buyer. The only exception is as a bona fide gift. Otherwise it’s a STRAW PURCHASE which all law abiding citizens know is illegal. ABC admitted handing over $5000 to a person with the specific intent to knowingly purchase guns under false pretense AND with the specific intent to hand over the guns to ABC. Let’s see if ABC is held accountable.

Tory II
Tory II
15 years ago

A blackmarket for firearms is a good thing. Every American who wants a good deal on a good firearm should be able to do it whenever and wherever. The more outlets for gun sales and buys the better. Where I live, I must travel far to buy a gun, and shop extensively to buy ammo. Illinois politicians are destroying the Illinois economy. The real crime is that the gun show visited by 20/20 is never held here in Illinois. I blame it on Illinois’ Nazi politicians and police. They interfere with capitalism everyday. Hey gun owners, do you disagree with… Read more »