Liberty Works: Instant Background Check and Gun Dealer Nabs Murder Suspect

The best friend of good police officers are the law abiding citizens around them. From Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot:

Virginia State Police denied the application, with a message via computer: "Not at this time." Almost immediately they followed up with a phone call to Bob's: Keep the customer there, or call him back.

The customer was wanted in Baltimore on a murder charge.

Store owner Robert Marcus called the man, saying his application had been approved. About 20 minutes later, the customer returned.

Four state troopers and a Norfolk policeman waiting discreetly inside converged on him as he approached the counter, wrestled him to the ground and handcuffed him Monday afternoon, even as other customers continued to peruse merchandise.

State Police on Wednesday called the arrest an unusual byproduct of the state's instant-background-check law.

(...)

Bob's Gun Shop employees said Roberts insisted to police that it wouldn't make sense for him to go in there if he knew there was an arrest warrant out on him.

"That's why it's so unusual for it to occur," Marcus, the shop's owner since 1989, said of the homicide arrest, "because most people are smarter than that."

He said his store gets one or two denials a week out of 100 attempted transactions but has never had one for something like this.

"The people of the commonwealth can rest easy tonight because there's a system in place and it works," Marcus said.

The quick turnaround does little to hinder Second Amendment rights, which is why gun-store owners are OK with it, he said.

Was he nervous about the "sting"?

"I wasn't," he said. "We have more guns than he has."

And they most likely knew how to use them much better, too... A happy ending for all concerned.

Book'em, Dano!