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Seven minutes.
That is all the time you need to buy an AR-15, the assault rifle used in the gay nightclub shooting in Orlando on Sunday that left 49 people dead and 53 injured.
Helen Ubiñas, a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter, proved how absurdly accessible military grade assault rifles are in the United States, calculating seven minutes “from the moment (she) handed the salesperson (her) driver's license to the moment (she) passed (her) background check.”
She did not need to justify the purchase in any way, only filling about a page and a half of forms to buy the gun—which was on display in the window and promoted as the gun of the week.
“I filled out more paperwork at the doctor's office for a routine checkup than I did Monday afternoon,” reported Ubiñas.
Then the salesperson takes only an instant to go through the formal background check—and with no need for a carry permit—before proceeding to the payment.
ANALYSIS:
4 Reasons It's No Coincidence Orlando Shooter Worked for G4S
Following the deadly attack in Orlando, the UN Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein, decried the "irresponsible pro-gun propaganda" in the United States claiming that firearms make society safer, "when all evidence points to the contrary."
“It is hard to find a rational justification that explains the ease with which people can buy firearms, including assault rifles, in spite of prior criminal backgrounds, drug use, histories of domestic violence and mental illness, or direct contact with extremists—both domestic and foreign,” Zeid said.
According to data collected from the Gun Violence Archive, GVA, there have been 6,030 gun-related deaths and more than 12,000 gun-related injuries in 2016.
Meanwhile, GVA data also revealed that at least two mass shootings have occurred since Sunday's massacre in Orlando.
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