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Cops Shot in the Line of Duty (PHOTOS)

Six cops were shot Wednesday night in Utah, a state notorious for its easy concealed-weapons-permit rules. Josh Dzieza on how that lax system could become the national standard.

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Alan Berner
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Six cops were shot Wednesday night in Utah, a state notorious for its easy concealed-weapons-permit rules. Josh Dzieza on how that lax system could become the national standard.

Alan Berner
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Francom was killed Wednesday night in Ogden, Utah, while trying to serve a warrant. Five other members of Francom’s drug task force were shot and wounded, some critically, in a gunfight at the suspect’s home. It’s not clear what type of weapon the suspect was using, but witnesses described hearing three quick shots followed by sustained gunfire. One witness estimated 30 to 40 shots were fired. Another said it sounded like an assault rifle. Francom was a seven-year veteran of the force. The suspect was wounded in the shootout but not seriously.

AP Photo
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It’s not clear how the pistol that killed Officer Peter Figorski made its way into the hands of murder suspect Lamont Pride, who had served time for armed robbery and was suspected in another shooting, but it came from a store in Virginia with a history of selling guns that end up out of state. in 1990, Dance Sporting Goods sold a pistol that eventually turned up in the Bronx, where it fired the stray bullet that killed 9-month-old Rayvon Jamison, who became a poster child for gun violence. In both cases the original buyers claimed they lost the guns.

Seth Wenig
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Ross Truett Ashley, the 22-year-old suspected of walking up to Officer Deriek Crouse’s car during a traffic stop on Virginia Tech’s campus and shooting him before turning the gun on himself, bought his gun legally from a store in Virginia. The incident recalled the 2007 massacre in which Virginia Tech student Seung Hui Cho killed 32 people with guns he bought online.

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Jesse Mathews, the man accused of killing Sgt. Tim Chapin during the botched robbery of a pawn shop in Chattanooga, Tenn., got his assault rifle by trading three stolen pistols for it at a gun show. After the shooting, Chattanooga Assistant Police Chief Tim Carroll brought attention to the gun-show loophole that allows people to buy weapons without submitting to a background check. “I've got to ask you one question,” Carroll said.  “Have you been convicted of a felony? If you say no, I don't have to check that. I'm talking about as an individual. You give me the money, I give you the gun, and you walk out the door. There's no paperwork.”

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Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham was shot and killed last year when four men tried to steal his motorcycle. The gun that killed him was traced to a Mississippi gun shop. It was brought to Chicago by Quawi Gates, who later pleaded guilty to buying weapons in Mississippi and selling them to the Gangster Disciples street gang in Chicago.

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Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed and his partner wounded when Christopher Mumfort allegedly pulled up alongside their squad car and opened fire with a rifle on Halloween 2009. Mumfort bought the gun, which The Seattle Times described as a “military-style assault rifle,” at a gun show from David Devenny, who was later caught selling guns to a convicted felon and a man with a domestic-violence conviction working with the ATF.

Alan Berner
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Despite once being committed to a mental institution and having a long history of psychological problems, Sergio Robles was able to purchase a gun from a sporting-goods store in Pasadena, Texas. His background check came back clear, and he bought the gun. Two weeks later, he shot and killed Officer Jesse Hamilton. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System is supposed to flag anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution, but states aren’t required to submit records to the database. A study conducted by Mayors Against Illegal Guns after the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords found that states fail to submit millions of records identifying people who are seriously mentally ill, have a history of drug abuse, or are otherwise prohibited from buying weapons.

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When police responded to a domestic-disturbance report in Pittsburgh, Richard Poplawski answered the door armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest. He shot two policeman in the head and killed a third who tried to help. Poplawski, who had been dishonorably discharged from the Marines for assaulting an officer during training, had reportedly been hoarding weapons out of fear the government would soon ban them. He purchased the assault rifle online and three other guns from a local shop.

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In 2006 Houston Police Officer Rodney Johnson was shot and killed by Juan Quintero, who should have been prohibited from buying a weapon both because he was a convicted felon and an illegal immigrant. The Brady Center says Quintero circumvented the law by having his wife fill out the paperwork, a common technique called straw buying.