According to media reports, he entered the school with an AR-15 style rifle and a handgun, and another AR-15 style rifle was found at the vehicle he crashed near the school.
The murder weapon was identified as a Daniel Defense DDM4 V7 (upper left in this page of the company’s website), which lists for $1,870 and with sales tax cost $2,024.28 (see receipt at left; click on it to enlarge).
If he bought two of these weapons, and the Texas Tribune says (here) he did, he spent over $4,000 on the rifles alone. He would’ve made additional outlays for magazines, 375 rounds of ammunition (116 of which were fired at the school), and the tactical vest he wore.
Media reports haven’t said where or how he got a handgun, or what type it was.
Under Texas law, an 18-year-old could legally purchase a handgun, but that’s superseded by federal law, which requires a handgun purchaser to be 21. Thus, he could not legally buy a handgun. (However, he would’ve passed a background check for the rifles, as he had no criminal or mental health record.)
He worked at a Wendy’s, and because he lived with relatives, he could’ve accumulated enough cash from that job to buy the guns.
The owners of Daniel Defense, who are GOP donors (see story here; for company details go here), extended their “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families. They’re probably lawyering up, too.
Just for fun, let’s assume they’re going to be sued. If they are, given their marketing tactics, they’d better hope some law shields them from liability, because this ad likely won’t sit well with a jury.
It’s not brilliant PR, either. The company is now infamous, thanks to a teenager with a lot of loose screws, and the stupid laws that enabled him to so easily acquire these guns.
