Being Careful What We Say To New Members

[alpacaheat]

Apparently, the psycho girl that planned to reenact Columbine this week did something we see commonly on this forum, or any gun forum.

She went on a Colorado gun forum and created an account to ask a question about out-of-state purchase. We've had users in the past who we've suspected as moles or plants for anti-gunners, but in this case, she was someone with very ill intentions. When we talk to these new users with odd, or suspicious questions, we need to be both vigilant and careful on the advice we give. We're stocked with some lawyers, law enforcement and generally well-educated users in firearms law and we typically spot these types of posts fairly quickly, but still, let this story serve as a reminder to always keep our answers within the law and if we suspect something....report it at minimum to our moderators if not law enforcement.



https://heavy.com/news/2019/04/sol-pais/

Sol Pais, Who Authorities Say ‘Expressed an Infatuation With Columbine’ & Bought a Pump-Action Shotgun Once She Arrived in Colorado, Appears to Have Sought Advice on a Gun Forum

It all started in Florida. The Miami office of the FBI first identified a possible threat involving Pais on the morning of April 16, authorities alleged. What appears to really have escalated things, for obvious reasons: Authorities say that Sol Pais took the step of flying to the Denver area, where she bought a gun.

“She has made some concerning comments in the past. She has expressed an infatuation with Columbine and the shooting events that happened there tragically 20 years ago,” officials said at an evening press conference on April 16. That concerned authorities. They then allegedly discovered that she flew to the Denver area, left the airport and then obtained a pump-action shotgun and ammunition from a store, according to Dean Phillips, the special-agent-in-charge of the FBI in Denver.

On March 29, two days before the date of the last journal entry on the website using that name, Pais posted on a gun forum asking about how a non-Colorado resident could purchase a shotgun there. On the website for “proud gun owners,” a user with the same username as the one Sol Pais appeared to have used on her website wrote, “hello everybody. Florida resident here. I am planning a trip to Colorado in the next month or so and wanna buy a shotgun while I’m there and I was wondering what restrictions apply for me? I’ve found a few private sellers I might want to purchase from; is it legal for me as a Florida resident to purchase a shotgun in Colorado? I’m 18 years old too, if it’s important. thank you for reading, i appreciate any response!”

A person named Sol Pais appears to have joined the gun message board in January 2019. Her signature on the site reads, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety,” a quote from Benjamin Franklin.

Two users gave advice on the post. One wrote, “If you do not have a valid Colorado driver’s license, you can buy a long gun (rifle or shotgun), and take it with you. For handgun purchases, you could buy it but you would have to have the dealer transfer it to a dealer with a Federal Firearms License (FFL), in your home state and you could pick it up there. If you live in one of the neighboring states this is a fairly common occurrence and a simple procedure.” Another said, “It is legal from a legal FFL, but not from a private party.”

The user appearing to be Pais responded, “so, as a follow up: does anybody know if it’s legal for me as an 18 year old to purchase a shotgun from an FFL if I reside in Florida instead of Colorado?”

After getting more advice, the user revealed her plans. “first of all, thank you for taking the time to answer my question and in that extent – i really do appreciate it. i’m flying in but plan on coming back in car for a road trip, and i’m aware of the law requiring that the gun be stored in a locked container, etc. i have it all planned out, have friends coming with me who own guns and know what they’re doing. i’m currently in the process of contacting both CO and FL gun stores but just wanted a second opinion, gun laws can get tricky and i want the most info i can get, even if i have to take it with a grain of salt.

The user added, “to answer your question, i just wanted to take the opportunity of this trip to buy a shotgun and go shooting/hunting somewhere nicer than FL, lol, and with friends who know more than I do. CO forests beat FL forests any day. plus if i bought the gun in FL i’d have to go through the trouble of dealing with the airport but driving back should be a simpler process. thank you again for your response!”

In another post, the user added, “i’m located in Miami (unfortunately), a majority of the people I come across here aren’t big fans of guns in general lol. i’d love to meet like minded people that live near me; the only IRL conversations I’ve had about guns with people have been in gun shops/ranges with strangers. I’ll look for shotgun clubs! thank you so much!”

When alerted to the fact that the user they had been interacting with was likely now the subject of a massive FBI manhunt, one forum member replied, “Well that’s kind of scary.”

Sol Pais has had an “infatuation with Columbine and the perpetrators of Columbine,” authorities revealed. They said the comments were “mostly spoken.” However, they said there was no threat made toward a specific school. They didn’t reveal the specific comments.

The website and Listography pages in the same name contain very disturbing comments.

A January 15, 2019 entry on the website reads, “I feel like a pot of scolding (sic) water on the verge of boiling over… so dangerously close to spilling over.. and what that may cause is yet to be seen and most likely a hazard, to myself and others. i’m afraid of my currently unknown capacity for pain and misery and anger. each time it gets exponentially worse and worse. my soul is in deep suffering and dis-belonging. i have done quite a good job at keeping all of the explosive energy inside of me but every time… worse and worse. and worse.”

An entry from September 2018 reads, “i wish i could distance myself from everybody in this f*cking world, as far away as possible from this poison that is the human race. i can’t stand anybody that surrounds me, i don’t wanna hear anymore human’s voices, only about 10 of them or less that i can stand to be around, but only one voice i truly want to hear every day and yet i can’t… life is merciless and i will always question why this universe decided to create humans.. ”

You enter the website by clicking on a skull.

<SNIP> plenty more to read...

[streaker69]

It is simply impossible to vet every single new user that signs up and asks questions in the way that she did. She was smart, never really gave any kind of indication as to her intentions, and I don't believe that the forum members that helped her should feel responsible.

It does sound as though people that knew her knew she had some issues though, those are the people that should be feeling some responsibility.

Beware of what's to follow this as the left has already been pushing that your social media should be vetted before you're allowed to buy a firearm. I'm quite certain none of us what that.

[alpacaheat]

In no way would I ever hold the forum responsible. Even if they gave her bad advice or encouraged her...SHE alone is guilty in her actions and potential crimes.

Still, I insist we should always be careful what advice we offer, not only because of the recipient but we ARE being watched by the enemy just looking for something to pounce on us with. Keep everything legal and free from anything that could be interpreted as a crime or threat.

For instance, I saw a thread about asking if they could carry an 80% Glock. It was handled well by our members in my opinion. Rather than, "YES, CONSTITUTION M-FER!"...sound advice about the law and reality was given.

[Walleye Hunter]

Ban the internet...if it saves just one life it's worth it.

[streaker69]

Ban the internet...if it saves just one life it's worth it.

We only need to keep the insane off the internet.

[Mr_Gixxer]

People still use forums?

[streaker69]

People still use forums?

Only arrogant, pompous, dickhead, backwards hick, fat, fascists.

[Mr_Gixxer]

Only arrogant, pompous, dickhead, backwards hick, fat, fascists.

You forgot basement dwelling.

[marinville]

I'm waiting to hear the evidence that this woman had any intentions other than to kill herself in Colorado on the Columbine anniversary.

[JenniferG]

That young woman's story kind of reminds me of the Iranian woman from California with that kind of delusional behavior. It's a shame the family couldn't find some way of helping her.