[quote=ucodegen][quote=craptcha]In this particular case (NY firefighters killed by a guy unable to purchase guns legally) the gun(s) were purchased by a neighbor for her own protection.

http://gothamist.com/2012/12/29/feds_woman_bought_rifle_for_upstate.php%5B/quote%5DTry reading the article again. She did not buy the guns for herself… she bought them for him, so that he could get past the ban on felons owning guns. This is why it states that she was acting as a “straw purchaser” or “straw buyer”.. See quote.. particularly last sentence:

“When the police asked her about the purchase after the shooting, she claimed the guns were for her own protection. She also said they had been stolen from her car, although the police said no report had been filed to support that claim.”

Also:

However, Spengler apparently wrote in his suicide note that a neighbor’s daughter helped him buy the guns.

And

But Nguyen apparently texted messaged with a friend—who is a deputy—and told him that she bought Spengler the guns. Nguyen was released on her own recognizance.

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I doubt she walked in and asked for a gun that will be handed over to a convicted criminal. According to the article she’s still claiming that she bought the guns for personal protection, gun(s) were stolen, she failed to report the theft.

The argument made earlier in a thread was that people need easy access to guns in order to protect themselves from criminals like Spengler. But the necessary ease of access is what allowed Spengler to acquire weapons.