Gun show madness!

[eric l]

This Guardian article quotes John Markell, the gun store owner who on 3/13/2007 sold Cho one of his guns (the 9 mm Glock), as stating “He was a nice, clean-cut college kid. We won't sell a gun if we have any idea at all that a purchase is suspicious.” Had he known of Cho’s history, would he have considered his purchase suspicious, and refused it?

 

 

Isn't the Glock that "plasicc" gun supposed to cheat metal detectors ? And wouldn't that make any one who is not known as a regular customer and who asks for this particular gun, at least a bit suspicious.

 

I must have said so in other threads, it is easy to make such statements from Belgium. We do not have a firearms culture, we do not even have the tradition of every farmer or home-owner having his shotgun on the mantlepiece.

 

But I refer to Switzerland. Military service is still compulsory there, and after 4 months of recruiting school, the new soldiers go home to be recalled every two years for a kind of refreshing training. In between they can taken their firearms home with them. Still, has anybody ever heard of such an incident in Switzerland ? Years ago, some Swiss (plural) told me that using their (military) firearm outside of the military training or regulated shooting competitions would be something like a sacrilege.

 

Making a background check mandatory when guns are sold would at least make it clear that the right to own a gun is not self-evident. And maybe eventually Americans will addopt the same kind of attitude towards guns as the Swiss.

[CraigD]

Isn't the Glock that "plasicc" gun supposed to cheat metal detectors ? And wouldn't that make any one who is not known as a regular customer and who asks for this particular gun, at least a bit suspicious.

No. A good summary of this oft-repeated urban myth can be read in This wikipedia article.

 

The various models of the Glock 17 are very popular – in the US and worldwide, over half of all police use them. They are considered moderately expensive, high-quality, reliable, “no-nonsense” guns – the kind of weapon that someone with enough money to be a homeowner or college student is likely to buy. (What better, we can imagine the average prospective handgun purchaser thinking, than the one police carry?) Collectors, target shooters, and “gun nuts” might find a Glock too ordinary and boring for their taste.

 

In short, a Glock 17 is possibly the least “suspicious” handgun one can buy, and, due to their great numbers, one of the most likely to be involved in a shooting.

[eric l]

No. A good summary of this oft-repeated urban myth can be read in This wikipedia article.

 

 

Well, I stand corrected. At least, this should teach me that, when I step out of my field of expertise, I am just as prone as anyone to mix up "well known facts" and urban legends. So, in order to keep in step with the quality level of this forum, I'd better check and doublecheck. But - between you and me and the lamppost - even if that reputation of the Glock pistol is nothing but an urban legend, I would still be wondering why a new potential customer asks for that specific handgun. But after reading your post, I would probably be satisfied with an answer like "Well, if the police uses it, it must be a bargain."