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Mass shootings: Where did the guns come from?

Ryan Teague Beckwith and Angi Carter, Digital First Media

Posted: 12/21/2012 12:40:47 PM PST

Updated: 12/21/2012 01:13:11 PM PST

View the story "Mass shootings: Where did the guns come from?" on StorifyMass shootings: Where did the guns come from?Storified by Digital First Media· Fri, Dec 21 2012 12:30:23The shootings at a Connecticut elementary school have renewed debate over gun control. It's unclear if the government will act to make rules more stringent, but if it does what points of sale would need to be addressed?

Below is a look at where the weapons used in recent mass shootings came from.

Columbine: An older friend, a private sale

GunsIntratec TEC-DC9 (World Guns)
In 1999, two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed 13 and injured 24 in a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Colorado.

The guns: Intratec TEC-DC9 semi-automatic handgun, a HiPoint 9mm semi-automatic carbine and two sawed-off shotguns.

Where they came from: Harris and Klebold, both 17, were too young to buy guns on their own. A friend of Klebold's, Robyn Anderson, bought three of the guns shortly after her 18th birthday at the Tanner Gun

Show outside Denver. They bought the TEC-DC9 from a 22-year-old computer technician, Mark Manes, at the house where he lived with his parents, after being introduced to him at the gun show on a different occasion.

Virginia Tech: A gun store, online

WashingtonpostGlock 19 9mm (Washington Post)In April of 2007, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 17 in two attacks on the Virginia Tech campus.

The guns: Glock 19 9mm semi-automatic compact pistol, Walther P22 .22 caliber handgun

Where they came from: In February of 2007, Cho bought a Walther P22 from TGSCOM Inc., an online gun dealer based in Green Bay, Wis., which later closed. He bought the Glock at Roanoke Firearms, about 30 miles from Virginia Tech, in early March. According to the store owner, he was easily cleared through the federal background check system.

Fort Hood: A gun store

WikimediaFN Five-seveN (Wikipedia)In November of 2009, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly shot and killed 13 and wounded 29 at the Fort Hood military base outside Killeen, Texas.

The guns: FN Five-seveN semi-automatic pistol

Where it came from: According to testimony at a military hearing, Hasan bought the gun, a targeting laser and magazine extenders that increased the capacity from 20 to 30 rounds on Aug. 1, 2009, at Guns Galore in Killeen. He returned to the gun store several times, buying up to eight boxes of ammunition each time. ABC News reported that Hasan passed a federal background check when he bought the gun.

Binghamton: Gun stores

Asset-cache9mm Beretta (Getty Images)April 3, 2009: A 41-year-old Vietnamese immigrant named Jiverly Antares Wong (a.k.a. Jiverly Voong) opened fire at an American Civic Association immigrant community center in Binghamton, N.Y. He fatally shot 13 people before killing himself.

The guns: 9 mm and .45 caliber Beretta handguns with high-capacity magazines
Where they came from: The guns were legally purchased and Wong held permits for them.

Tucson, Arizona: Retail store

WashingtonpostGlock 9mm. (Washington Post)On Jan. 8, 2011, Jard Lee Loughner, 22, killed six people and wounded 13 more, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The shooting spree erupted outside a grocery store in Tucson, Ariz.

The gun: Glock semi-automatic 9mm with extended magazine
Where they came from: purchased legally at Sportsman's Warehouse in Tucson after passing background check

Aurora theater: Local stores, gun shops

Asset-cacheGlock .40-caliber semi-automatic pistols (Getty Images)Twelve people are killed on July 20, 2012 when gunman James Holmes, 24, released a can of tear gas and then went on a rampage at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater during opening night of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises."

The guns: a semi-automatic variation of the military's M-16 rifle, a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun and at least one .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol

Where they came from: Two months before the shooting, Holmes bought a Glock 40 pistol from outdoors shop Gander Mountain. Then he purchased four more weapons, including a shotgun and an assault rifle, from various gun shops around Aurora and Denver, and 6,000 rounds of ammunition from Internet stores.

Sikh Temple: Gun shop

GunandgameSpringfield 9MM X-D. (Gun and Game)Army veteran Wade Michael Page killed 6 people and wounded a police officer before taking his own life at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin outside Milwaukee on Aug. 5, 2012.

The gun: 9mm semi-automatic handgun with multiple ammunition magazines
Where it came from: About a week before the shooting, Wade bought the handgun at The Shooter's Shop in West Allis, Wis. Two days later, he picked it up from the store.

Sandy Hook Elementary School: Taken from mother

Asset-cacheBushmaster XM-15 rifle (Getty Images)Adam Lanza, 20, of Newtown, Conn., shot and killed his mother on Dec. 14, 2012 at her home before driving her car to the elementary school where he killed 20 students, six adults and himself, police say.

The guns: Bushmaster XM-15 rifle, 10mm Glock 20 SF handgun, 9mm Sig Sauer handgun, shotgun
Where they came from: They were reportedly taken from his mother, who was a gun enthusiast and frequent gun range visitor. According to one account, she bought the guns at Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor, Conn.

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Mass shootings: Where did the guns come from?

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