Las Vegas shooter legally purchased weapons and passed all background checks, say Nevada gunshops

The Las Vegas shooter legally purchased weapons in the last year and passed all the required background checks, according to two different gun shops in Nevada.

Police said they found 16 guns in the corner suite Stephen Paddock checked into on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel room and another 18 at his residence in Mesquite. They also found ammonium nitrate in one of his vehicles and in his home.

Reports said police discovered two tripods set up with different weapons aimed out of two windows from the the double-roomed suite in the hotel. Officers have not yet said which weapons he used to carry out the attack.

Yet two gun shops told reporters they had sold weapons to the 64-year-old gambling fan. The shops were identified as New Frontier Armory in North Las Vegas, and from Guns and Guitars in Mesquite.

Christopher Sullivan, general manager of Guns & Guitars, told NBC News that Paddock bought a handgun and two rifles. All the purchases were legal and cleared routine federal screening, Mr Sullivan said.

“The man does not have a criminal history,” he added.

David Familglietti of New Frontier Armory, said Paddock purchased a rifle and a shotgun in the spring, and that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were interviewing the employee who handled the sale.

“The rifle was not fully automatic and a shotgun isn’t capable of shooting from where he was,” said Mr Famiglietti when asked if it was possible the guns were used in the mass shooting. “He's only shopped there once so it wasn’t someone we knew personally.”

He added: “We're very sad about the news of this tragedy. We’re in the business of selling firearms legally and took all precautions on this sale as we do with all sales. My staff takes their job very seriously and if there were any ‘red flags’ the sale would have halted immediately.”