Hot! Colorado Shooting Suspect Avoided Gun Reporting Rule

The suspect in the Colorado shooting bought two pistols, a semiautomatic rifle and a shotgun since May, avoiding federal reporting requirements and taking advantage of the state s failure to pass significant firearms legislation since the Columbine massacre 13 years ago.

The suspect, James Holmes, 24, didn t purchase the handguns from the same store within five days, which would have triggered a requirement for the seller to notify the U.S. Justice Department, according to a federal official who asked for anonymity and wasn t authorized to speak publicly. Holmes hadn t committed any offenses that would have raised an alarm during required background checks, the official said.

The shooting early yesterday killed 12 inside an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater. The incident renewed debate over gun laws, with advocates saying the slayings show the need for tighter controls. Lawmakers haven t clamped down on firearms after earlier shootings gripped public attention, including one in January 2011 that wounded Gabrielle Giffords , then a Democratic U.S. Representative, in Tucson, .

You get this fervor in people when something like this happens, said Ron Teck, a former Republican state senator from , Colorado. He was a lawmaker when the Columbine High School killings took place. I would be really surprised if anything actually does happen.

Deadliest Shooting

The deadliest shooting in the U.S. in recent years occurred on the Virginia Tech campus in 2007, when Seung-Hui Cho took 33 lives, including his own. In the 1999 Columbine attack, two students shot 12 classmates and a teacher in the suburban Denver school before killing themselves.

After Columbine, a measure requiring background checks for purchases at gun shows passed the and stalled in the House of Representatives . No major gun-control laws passed following the Virginia Tech shooting or after Jared Lee Loughner opened fire last year in a Tucson parking lot, killing six and wounding Giffords.

In Colorado, state lawmakers refused to pass new gun- control measures after Columbine. Voters responded by approving a constitutional amendment that required background checks before firearms could be purchased at a gun show.

A bill that would have eliminated Colorado s background check system, known as InstaCheck, passed the Republican- controlled Colorado House this year and stalled in the Senate, led by Democrats. The measure was backed by the National Rifle Association , which said the check duplicates federal requirements.

Guns Recovered

After the attack in Aurora, authorities seized a Glock G22 and a Glock G23, both .40 caliber pistols, one Remington 870 Express Tactical 12-gauge shotgun and one Smith & Wesson M&P .223 caliber semiautomatic rifle, the federal official said.

Holmes used the shotgun, rifle and one of the Glocks in the shooting, Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates told reporters.

Waiting Period Future Tragedies

Julie Adams, left, holds her phone displaying a 2006 Westview High School yearbook picture of Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes in front of the Holmes family house in San Diego on July 20, 2012. Photographer: Gregory Bull/AP Photo

July 20 (Bloomberg) Police and firefighters in Aurora, Colorado, search the home of the suspect of a shooting of more than 70 people, killing at least 12. James Holmes, 24, was arrested after the 12:30 a.m. attack at a shopping mall that housed the theater in the Denver suburb, Police Chief Dan Oates said at a press briefing today. (Source: Bloomberg)

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