INDIANAPOLIS–For now the gun store where Brandon Hole was ble to legally buy the gun that was used in the FedEx shooting is not being named by the ATF. Gun rights attorney Guy Relford says the store likely bears no blame, since the gun could be purchased legally.
“Literally all I can do (if I’m a gun store) in terms of their criminal history, is ask the FBI, which is how the system works,” he said.
He said a store does have options if there are reasons to suspect something is up.
“A gun store has the prerogative, if you just don’t like something about someone or you have suspicions about them or they smell like marijuana, whatever gut-level or empirical input you might have that leads you to say, I just don’t want to sell this guy a gun, you have the option of doing that.”
But, he doesn’t think it would be fair to blame a gun store when they are relying on info that, in the case of Mr. Hole, was not there.
Earlier this week Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears established that Hole had not been prohibited from buying guns because he had never had to go through a red flag hearing, which under Indiana law, could have established that he was a danger to himself and others. One of the reasons Mears gave was that he believes it would have taken too long to get legal requests for Hole’s medical records.
Relford said the law was changed in 2019, from a 14-day limit on that.
“There was a 14-day requirement before 2019. Now it simply says the court shall make a good faith effort to have a hearing within 14 days,” he said, which means authorities could get an extension.
Relford believes that calls to change the law or to fill loopholes in the red flag law are unfair in this case, because the effort to have Hole declared dangerous was not made.
