•  Gun laws are a tangled web of local, state, and federal laws. There is no real consistency.
• Owning a military-style semi-automatic long gun is legal in Ohio and Texas but not in California, unless it’s been modified to not accept high capacity magazines.
• The gun used by the Gilroy shooter was legal in Nevada, where he purchased it, but not legal in California where he murdered three people with it.
• Firearms, in general, can only be sold by people with FFLs (Federal Firearm Licenses).
• There are tons of FFLs. There are at least a dozen within 25 miles of my address. They range from auction houses and hardware stores to hunting outfitters.
• A person in Ohio or Texas can purchase a gun online but the weapon has to be shipped to an FFL in their state of residence where their background information is gathered and checked before the weapon is turned over to them.
• The Gilroy shooter ordered his gun online but had to go to Nevada to pick it up because it couldn’t be legally shipped to an FFL in California.
• A simple Google search about buying a gun online will present one with a cornucopia of willing vendors.

Buying a firearm online is not without hassles and added expenses. There is additional paperwork, delayed delivery time, shipping cost, and the FFL will charge a fee for their services. So, the question is, why would someone choose to go that route? Is there some sort of a secret loophole that let’s crazy people buy guns that wouldn’t be able to otherwise? I doubt it but I still have to wonder about the logic of buying online. Help me out here!

I also want to suggest that the comfort of sitting in your recliner and shopping for your next weapon of mass destruction contributes to the overall easiness of acquiring a firearm in America. And, I will always remain convinced a major part of our gun problem is the number of guns in this nation and the ease of which they can be had.