Scott Keyes from ThinkProgress was able to purchase four AR-15 assault rifles in 20 minutes online:
This was on full display last week when we visited ArmsList.com, a Craigslist-style site that deals solely in firearms. We searched “Smith & Wesson M&P15″ in the Colorado listings and instantly found dozens of sellers. A few emails later, we had four people willing to sell us the gun that same day, no questions asked. When we inquired whether we’d need to do a background check or any paperwork to obtain the assault rifle, we met the same response every time: no.
When I asked one man whether a background check was required, he said he was simply “assuming” I am not a felon and am “a good and decent person that will not use this carbine to commit a crime and of course a sane and normal human being.” “If that is indeed the case,” he continued, “no background check is required by law in the state of Colorado.”
We’ll be fortunate if they close the gun show loophole alone, but can you imagine trying to explain to the fossils on the Judiciary Committee the whole process of buying things on the internet? It’s a series of tubes, after all.