As of this writing, “investigative photojournalist” Cody Davis has racked up more than 8,000 retweets and 11,000 likes for this tweet, in which he claims he was able to buy an AR-15 in five minutes with an expired ID at age 20.
https://twitter.com/usaphotodude/status/965435269838262272
There’s just one thing wrong with that headline: he wasn’t able to buy an AR-15 in 5 minutes.
Why we can't have nice things.
(This person did not buy an AR-15, did not fill out any paper work and did not go through the required background checks. He literally looked at a gun, then said, 'meh, maybe I'll get it later' and left before filling out paperwork and purchasing) https://t.co/1kssgx0jSX
— Mere Dake-O'Connor (@meredithdake) February 20, 2018
What she said. Davis wrote at The Tab two years ago (the tweet’s new, the story is not) that he was in a gun shop in Virginia for only 5 minutes, but he didn’t buy a gun. The dealer showed him a gun and let him take a photo, but he didn’t even fill out the paperwork:
After he walked me through the paperwork, all five pages of it, I told him I changed my mind and wanted to think more before I bought an AR-15. He told me it wasn’t a problem and listed the store hours if I wanted to come back. I then said thank you and walked back to my car.
Seconds. It took seconds for the salesman to take an AR-15 off the shelf and begin selling it to me. If I had stayed for maybe three minutes longer to fill out less paperwork than I did for the hiring process at my school’s bookstore, I would’ve driven home with an AR-15.
No delay. No extensive background check. Just my recently expired driver’s license, my vehicle registration, and filling out some paperwork.
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So, um, that would make the headline about being able to buy an AR-15 in 5 minutes a flat-out lie.
No, you didn't. https://t.co/Ge7mQg1zY1
— Dead Agent (@Recursion_Agent) February 21, 2018
This is obvious BS. Never happened. https://t.co/Y74xV6Ivp4
— John L. Pitts (@JohnLPitts) February 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/plasmarob/status/966113529680994305
Lie. He didn't BUY the gun. He "changed his mind" before the background check. https://t.co/JjBGFztUqr
— Just Phil (@JustPhilD) February 21, 2018
This fake news was retweeted by people at CNN. Not only would multiple felonies have to be committed for this to happen, he didn’t even buy the gun: https://t.co/sceV20ZR7u https://t.co/2I7KHMdMYu
— Tony Hrvatska ?? (@tonybalogna) February 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/ruthven78/status/965851592929959937
But he didn't actually "buy" it, therefore he didn't fill out required paperwork or get a background check, so this is all a lie to generate hysteria clicks. #wearebetterthanthis https://t.co/XmI0ypXXru
— Chris Anderson ? (@17_canderson) February 20, 2018
He is lying, of course. Didn’t even fill out the paperwork, much less go through the background check. ? https://t.co/3ZKTRQoagT
— Team Snuckles (@TheMaverick21) February 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/k_ovfefe/status/966111861711261696
https://twitter.com/Bagehot99/status/966105959981637633
False, he wouldn't have even made it through a standard background check with an expired license . Nor would you be able to fill out any paperwork as all forms of ID must be valid. Gun control idiots https://t.co/8fTh2qIZTs
— Lorenzo Von Matterhorn (@Coolboy_Que) February 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/Dr_2A/status/966036518770040833
What’s really frightening is all of the people who read the headline and believed it.
Unbelievable ??? https://t.co/gu8uEMfEpm
— Kim Lindberg (@kim_iam) February 19, 2018
Yes, literally unbelievable. But let’s pass some more laws based on fake news.
Related:
Washington’s attorney general explains how 18-year-olds can get an AR-15 in ‘minutes’
FAKE NEWS: CBS News says it’s easier to buy an ‘assault rifle’ than cold medicine
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