In the wake of yet another horrific mass shooting, citizens and legislators who want stricter gun control laws are speaking out about the need to restrict access to deadly arms, because as it is now, it's just too easy for people to get their hands on guns. Demonstrating just how simple it can be to purchase a lethal firearm, Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Helen Ubiñas headed to a gun shop and was able to walk out with the same weapon used by the Orlando nightclub shooter in under 10 minutes.
In fact, it only took Ubiñas seven minutes after handing over her driver's license and passing a background check to walk out with a semi-automatic assault rifle. "It's obscene. Horrifying," Ubiñas wrote of the ease with which she purchased the weapon from a gun shop in Pennsylvania.
Ubiñas also wrote she had anticipated needing to explain to the gun shop she went to why she wanted to purchase this particular assault rifle only a day after the same gun had been used to massacre 49 people and injure 53 others. But as it turned out, Ubiñas found that she didn't need a reason or a story to back up her purchase, just proof she was a United States citizen who could clear the background check.
"Turns out I don't need a story," Ubiñas wrote. "The AR-15 is on display in the window of the gun shop. It is being promoted as the gun of the week." Ubiñas reflected further that she didn't even need to supply a concealed carry permit before walking out of the shop with the gun.
Ubiñas wrote that she turned the weapon in to the police since she didn't want to keep it, nor did she want anyone else to get their hands on it, and noted that it took longer to hand the weapon over to police custody than it did to buy it in the first place.
Helen Ubiñas did not immediately reply to Complex's request for comment.
