“We literally walked in and within 20 minutes we walked out with those two guns,” said the friend, Doug Smith, 26, of Columbus. “I was shocked.”
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which sponsored Goddard’s undercover operation, said it underscores the need to close the so-called gun show loophole, which allows unlicensed dealers at gun shows to sell firearms with a background check.
Coincidentally, Goddard’s hidden camera captured a sale of the AK-47-style gun by one of the same dealers who showed up in hidden-camera video shot during a separate undercover operation this summer by the New York City mayor’s office, said Doug Pennington of the Brady Campaign in Washington, D.C.
Goddard visited gun shows in Virginia, Minnesota, Texas and Ohio, working with state residents to make purchases that can be viewed on YouTube. The Brady Campaign released information on Goddard's purchase Wednesday, Nov. 25, after DaytonDailyNews.com reported Tuesday that a Dayton gang member recently bought a gun from the Goodman show, as did the man who in 2000 shot Dayton Police Officer Mary Beall. She died from her injuries two years later.
Pennington said he isn’t impressed by tougher oversight measures put in place by the Goodman show in October.
“Right now, Bill Goodman’s Gun & Knife Show is selling guns to cop killers, gang members and heaven knows who else,” Pennington said. “They have a responsibility to stop doing that immediately.”
Show manager Dave Goodman said: “If it’s anybody who needs to be investigated, it’s him (Goddard) and the Brady Campaign. It’s a felony to buy guns across state lines. You can’t go around breaking the law just to show you can do it.”
Pennington said the video shows it was Ohio resident Smith, not Goddard, who made the purchases. “We planned this out so no laws would be broken, and none were,” he said.
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