By Eileen Sullivan
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — There is a legal way to try to get any gun you want somewhere in the United States, thanks to the maze of gun statutes across the country and the lack of certain federal laws.
An Associated Press analysis found that thousands of laws, rules and regulations exist at the local, county, state and federal levels.
The laws and rules vary by state, and even within states, according to a 2011 compilation of state gun laws by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
President Barack Obama this month announced a $500 million plan to tighten federal gun laws after a school shooting in Connecticut killed 20 children and six adults and pushed gun control to a national focus not seen in decades.
Obama is urging Congress to pass new laws, some of which would set a minimum standard for the types of firearms and ammunition that are commercially available.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein recently said she was introducing a new assault weapons ban.
The powerful gun lobby argues that enforcing all existing laws makes more sense than passing new ones.
“Which begs the question: Why are we putting more laws on the books if we’re not enforcing the laws we already have on the books?” said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the National Rifle Association.
The current patchwork of laws and regulations governs who can carry a firearm, what kind of firearm is legal, the size of ammunition magazines, and more. In some places, a person can buy as many guns as desired.
Not only can people acquire military-style assault weapons, they can also get gangster-style Tommy guns, World War II-era bazookas and sawed-off shotguns.
“If you regulate something on the local or state level, you are still a victim to guns coming into other localities or states,” said Laura Cutilletta, a senior staff attorney at the California-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
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