Does anyone know how Loughner had enough money to buy that gun and all the ammunition?

[CTyankee]

Wasn't the guy unemployed? I know he lived at home, but where did he get enough disposable income to afford the weapon and bullets?

[Broderick]

1. I have seen nothing to indicate

he had any type of earnings. Maybe unemployment?

[Motown_Johnny]

25. to collect unemployment one must first be employed for a period of time

as well as prove that you are unemployed through no fault of your own.



Maybe the guy had a job at one point, I honestly don't know. But he was a student who lived with his parents (and was nuts). I suppose it is possible he could collect benefits but it seems unlikely to me.

[Broderick]

27. I just read he filled out

21 applications or something but to no avail on his game messages. I guess it was no fault of his own.

[Motown_Johnny]

28. If we assume he was speaking truthfully you would be correct

but the guy is insane so I tend to question most anything he says


and what game messages? was he on VN Boards or something?

[Broderick]

29. Some gaming board

WSJ had his posts - 131 of them.... There is a discussion here on it somewhere.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791904576075851892478080.html

[RufusTFirefly]

2. In a (perhaps) related note: Whatever happened to the second "person of interest"? n/t

[NightWatcher]

5. It was a cabbie that dropped him off, not an accomplise

[slackmaster]

6. Are you referring to the cab driver who appeared in one surveillance photo?

He's no longer a POI.

[RufusTFirefly]

30. Thanks for the clarification/update. I haven't been following things that closely. n/t

[IdaBriggs]

3. Good question. nt

[tridim]

4. Guns are cheap in America.

Because there are too many guns.

[Ineeda]

14. Apparently they're more than $500

not including ammo and extended magazine. Not cheap in my book. Good question OP. And BTW, they're selling like hotcakes.

[Statistical]

31. Not really.

Glock 17 runs about $400 to $500. I doubt he was a super savy buyer. He owned two. So that is a $1000 easy when you add in cost of mags, and ammo.

[Johonny]

35. 1000 $ isn't that much

If it's the most important thing to you to have an own. It's not like 1000 $ represents 1 or 2 years salary. Most Americans can save up 1000 $. I imagine more info like his financial details will come out in the trial, since obviously authorities need to follow the money to find out if he was acting alone. Clearly if he just wanted any gun he could have gotten one cheaper. So apparently he had the means to shop around for what he wanted. Is the guns really telling of anything? Sans that that clip use to be banned and now it's not.

[cali]

7. I've read that he had worked at various big box stores but he was,

afaik, unemployed at the time he bought it, and it costs somewhere between $400 and $500.

[hughee99]

8. Perhaps he signed up for some of the hundreds of credit card applications

that no doubt showed up in his mailbox every year. If so, maybe we can get the banks involved in this as his "financial backers".

[Democrats_win]

9. Wikipedia: at one time he worked at Quizinos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Lee_Loughner

[Warpy]

12. That explains their ad campaign

[Warpy]

10. He had a job with county government

and drew a paycheck, although it's unclear how he managed to work, as nuts as he was.

[jtown1123]

15. No, that was his mom. He was unemployed.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Probably on unemployment and not paying rent since he lived with parents

Not so hard to imagine.

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. No,

but I would presume scaring up money to buy a gun was no big deal for him.

[hack89]

16. Perhaps he was like many people and put money in the bank when he had an income? nt

[leveymg]

17. Why do we all assume he bought the gun? It was apparently stashed in the trunk of the family car.

There was an CBS report this morning that the father confronted and pursued the son the morning of the attack after the shooter removed a "mysterious" black bag from the trunk of "the family car." http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/11/national/main7236979.shtml

[tuckessee]

19. Because paperwork proves he bought it at Sportsman's Warehouse.

That's why.

[leveymg]

20. Thanks. I didn't know that. But, the question is, did the parents know?

Why would the father confront the shooter after he removed the black bag from the car that morning?

[WingDinger]

18. So, the goal is to keep all those mentally ill, too poor to do anything?

[CTyankee]

21. No, I was really only asking the question. If he was unemployed and

evidently unemployable I wonder how on earth he scraped together enough money to buy a gun. I suspect he stole it from his parents...they may have given him money to buy something for the house and he used it for the gun, but who knows? :shrug:

[BobbyBoring]

22. heck with the guns and ammo

Where's he getting $$ for his lawyer??

[CTyankee]

23. My question, too, until I read that his lawyer had been "appointed."

That sounds to me like the court ordered it, but I could be wrong.

[Statistical]

32. From you (and me). His lawyer was appointed at taxpayer expense. n/t

[BobbyBoring]

33. Yeah But

I thought when you got a court appointed lawyer, you got some Bozo. This lady has serious creds.

[Statistical]

34. Not always. Someone with cred can volenteer.

Often times in large high profile capital cases the courts wants someone with cred.

This lady is very successful and she takes some very high profile cases by court appointment. The amount the court pays likely doesn't even cover her research department. It creates less of an impression of someone being "railroaded".

So you are only guaranteed "A LAWYER" (which may be a low paid overworked public defender), you have no control over who you get. Sometimes you might get "lucky" if someone with cred is interested in your case. Various lawyers will pick up cases that deal with issues they feel are important. She is a strong anti-DP crusader. She likely will save this guys life.

[EC]

24. This morning the news said that his Dad asked him why

he was removing the black bag from the car...it made me wonder if Dad knew what was in the bag. So I'm thinking the gun and ammo was Dad's or bought for the son by Dad...he likely knew what was in the bag since he started chasing his son to ask him why he was taking the bag...

[bettyellen]

26. that made me think, he wasn;t allowed to use car (hence the cab) and Dad hid the guns there

because he knew about them and stashed them there. Kid grabbed the keys, got the guns back. Maybe Dad should have called LE, a lot of other people probably should have too,