A former student athlete accused of fatally shooting three University of Virginia football players was able to legally buy two guns after failing a background check last year and trying to get a handgun while underage four years ago, according to the gun shop that sold him the firearms.
Christopher Darnell Jones bought a Ruger AR-556 rifle in February and a Glock 45 9 mm with an additional magazine in July from Dance’s Sporting Goods in Colonial Heights, Virginia, store owner Marlon Dance told CNN, noting that there was “nothing noteworthy” about the sales.
Jones tried to buy weapons in the store twice before, the shop detailed in a statement. On July 8, 2021, he wanted to get a Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 — a .22-caliber rifle — but failed a background check due to a pending criminal charge, the store said. The felony charge was later “reduced to a misdemeanor by the court in October 2021, thereby removing the prohibition against future purchases,” police said.
