In eight of the 10 school shootings the report examined, the shooter got the gun from a family member or friend. This is not a report that depicts a nation terrorized by conniving criminals who scheme to obtain weapons on a black market. The picture is of a nation that has not taken the most basic steps to control a product used to kill. It's strikingly rare for a high-profile shooting to actually involve an illegal gun. Another rarity is a purchase at a gun show.
Columbine turns out to be the most notorious example.
The hideous truth cannot be reduced to a media cliche. The people who commit the shooting sprees that attract television trucks and politicians are most often those who are entitled to purchase a gun, even under the Brady Law's restrictions. They are, in fact, not criminals until they buy a gun and then commit a heinous act with it. The catalog has a chilling consistency. Robert W. Pickett, who fired a revolver outside the south fence of the White House in February, purchased his gun after passing an instant background check.