Easy Access: $5,000 and One Hour Buys 10 Guns

Brother of slain Va. Tech student takes part in a terrifying experiment.

ByABC News
April 9, 2009, 10:06 AM

RICHMOND, Va., April 9, 2009— -- The two-year anniversary of Virginia Tech, the largest massacre by a sole gunman in the country's history, is only one week away.

In the two years since, what has changed, what has been fixed, and what has stayed exactly the same?

Immediately following the tragedy, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and other authorities called on lawmakers to close the so called "gun show loophole" -- by which anyone can buy a gun from a private dealer with no background check and no questions asked. Two years later, that loophole is still very much open, in Virginia and 32 other states around the country.

So just how easy is it to buy a gun at a gun show?

For over a year, ABC News has followed Omar Samaha on a very personal quest to hold those lawmakers to their word. Omar's sister Reema was one of 32 shot and killed at Virginia Tech. We went with Omar to a gun show in Richmond, Va. -- one of hundreds held every weekend across the state of Virginia and the country. We gave Samaha $5,000 and one hour to see how many guns he could buy, and how many questions he would be asked.

CLICK HERE TO HELP OMAR SAMAHA FIGHT GUN VIOLENCE.

By 9:30 in the morning, the parking lot was already packed full of cars. Groups of men, couples and even families with children in tow streamed toward the quickly growing line out front. Samaha, 25, joined the crowds and while waiting on line, he was approached by a seller and given the opportunity to make a quick purchase. He bought a Glock handgun, with no background check, and no questions asked.

"He was just sitting right outside the door, I went up to him. 'How much do you want for it?'

"'$450 bucks.'

'Here's the cash.'

'Thanks. See you later.'

"That was it."

For Samaha, the Glock handgun was a particularly painful purchase. It was the same kind of gun used to kill his sister Reema when she was a freshman at Virginia Tech. Just holding the gun in his hand was difficult.

"I don't want to think about how gruesome it was and how somebody used this type of weapon on my sister and so many other innocent people. It's devastating," he said.

E-mail: contactus@angelfundva.org

Students for Gun Free Schools: Omar launched an online campaign about the dangers of guns on campus.
E-mail: Info@StudentsforGunFreeSchools.org