Gun seller offering discounts to 'save lives'

[doobie]

The gun seller who sold 'firearm mechandise' used in the VTech/NIU shooting is selling guns at cost for the next two weeks

CNN) -- The owner of a company that sold firearm merchandise to both the Virginia Tech University and Northern Illinois University shooters announced Wednesday that he will sell his guns at cost for the next two weeks in hopes that "law-abiding" citizens will buy them to prevent similar tragedies.
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A gunman killed 32 people in April 2007 at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg.

"I want to help people save lives," Eric Thompson said Thursday. He was to speak Thursday evening at Virginia Tech University at an event sponsored by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.

"I feel like I have a special responsibility to show people what guns are, what the laws are, and to allow people to protect themselves," Thompson said. "Initially, I wanted this to be an offer for college students," he said. "But there's no real way to determine whether someone is a college student ... so we opened it up to any legal American."

Thompson owns TGSCOM Inc, a Green Bay, Wisconsin-based company that operates about 100 Web sites that sell firearms. Among them are www.topglock.com and www.thegunsource.com, two Web sites that the NIU and Virginia Tech gunmen used to buy firearm merchandise.

Steven Kazmierczak, who killed five students before turning the gun on himself at NIU on February 14, bought two Glock 9 mm magazines and a Glock holster from www.topglock.com.

And Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho bought a Walther P22 from www.thegunsource.com.

Cho killed 32 students and professors before killing himself April 16, 2007.
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Thompson said he has a "really emotional and raw feeling" about having links to the attacks. "I feel absolutely terrible for the parents, students and schools."

However, he added, "I'm selling a piece of plastic and a piece of metal ... and I think the media focuses on something different. ... I think they should focus on the murderer and not the weapon."

Thompson acknowledged that his guns could again be used in a crime.

"There's a small chance of these discounted guns getting into the hands of the wrong people," he said. But, he added, "as a federally licensed gun dealer, we have to rely on federal background checks."

He emphasized that he thinks he is doing the right thing. "This isn't fun, and this isn't easy," he said. "I could have easily stuck my head in the sand and ignored all of this, but sometimes the easy way to go is not the right thing to do."

He said, "I'm not making a single dime off of this. ... I will probably end up losing thousands and thousands [of dollars]."

Furthermore, he added, he and his family have received threatening phone calls; some included death threats.

"I do not feel I have extreme views," he said. "I think I have open eyes."

NIU did not immediately issue a response to Thompson's offer.

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker issued a statement regarding Thompson's appearance there Thursday.

"Free speech is a hallmark of university life," he said. "Still, I find it terribly offensive to learn that the gun-seller of the weapons used in the Virginia Tech campus murders would set foot on this campus."

The statement did not address Thompson's offer, and the school did not immediately reply to a request for a response

 

[Scrivener]

Interesting strategy. "Call and raise" - I like it!

 

[Ripach]

Very clever. Good for him.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

God Bless him for his action, I applaud him. It is a great gesture and if it gets several more guns in the hands and on the hips of good people its a win.

Hmm, death threats from the anti gun crowd........shows just what hypocritical screwballs they really are.

 

[Cross-X]

They have about 100 gun-selling web sites? Who knew?

 

[packingungal]

Standing for what he(they) believe in!

 

[WVBob]

Now we have to buy from his sites to support him. I have and will keep supporting him because of what he is doing.

 

[Raoul Duke]

They have about 100 gun-selling web sites? Who knew?

Yup. And ever the opportunist, I decided to check out some of these deals and I have to concur that the web prices I saw appeared to be discounted by about 15-20% give or take.

Samples include: New Sig 226 Base model +2 15 shot mags in the low-mid $600's (he has many many models and it can be hard to tell at first whether the gun is new or not.

New 9M HK USP's $700 or so...

etc.

Have a look at www.topglock.com. The only thing that I'll say is that he's obviously not pouring his $ into the back-end of these sights as they are incredibly slow to load and poorly laid out. Still good prices are available for the Free Stater's among us...Not too many good rifle deals at all

And, as Scrivener said, his money's on the table.

 

[rwl1955]

Strategy

Interesting strategy. "Call and raise" - I like it!

********
I agree. The Brady Bunch will go wild.

 

[Scrivener]

He is supposed to speak on the VT campus. As usual, the anti's are all - well, not "up in arms" because they can't be. They're quite upset, however.

 

[Raoul Duke]

and yet

He is supposed to speak on the VT campus. As usual, the anti's are all - well, not "up in arms" because they can't be. They're quite upset, however.

Nonetheless, it's still dangerous to argue with the anti's as the holes in their logic are big enough to for an adult to fall through.

You could twist and ankle don'tcha know?