Social Experiment Shows 13-Year-Old American Boy Buying Gun With Ease

In the wake of the Florida high school shooting last week, much attention has been drawn to America's problems with gun violence and whether tighter gun control is needed.

Now renewed attention has been drawn to a social experiment, originally shared in 2016, which demonstrates just how easy it is for someone to get hold of a gun in the US.

In the social experiment, shared by Facebook user Jason Simpson, a 13-year-old kid in the US is shown buying a gun without checks despite being turned down for a whole host of other age-restricted items.

The video, originally from a 2014 segment of HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, shows a 13-year-old actor rightly being refused cigarettes, pornography, lottery tickets and alcohol from stores in Virginia.

However, within minutes of arriving at a gun show, the kid was able to purchase a .22 bolt-action rifle from a private seller for just a wadful of cash. Surely there should be more to it than that?

"It should shoot pretty good for you," the seller says, handing over the rifle to the boy, Jack.

"I'll take it," Jack replies.

The revived interest in gun laws in the US will come as succour to people involved in anti-gun groups who believe that there should be stricter gun control laws in the country.

Last week, gunman Nikolas Cruz burst into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida with a AR15 assault rifle which he had legally purchased, despite being known for his disturbing social media output.

Students were found to have barricaded themselves inside rooms while Cruz made his way in and around the school, killing seventeen people - fourteen in the school, two just outside and one in the street.

When the shooting occured, it was the 18th school shooting in the US of the year so far - equivalent to one every 60 hours.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Douglas students have taken an unusually prominent role in public debate, coming out in support of greater gun control laws.

CNN

One of those students is Emma Gonzalez, a Douglas senior who gave a passionate speech for change at a gun control rally in nearby Fort Lauderdale.

Gonzalez showed determination that the school board, faculty members, family members and students of the school will make sure that the shooting will be the 'last mass shooting' in the country.

"We are going to be the kids you read about in textbooks. Not because we're going to be another statistic about mass shooting in America, but because, just as David said, we are going to be the last mass shooting," Gonzales said. "Just like Tinker v. Des Moines, we are going to change the law."

Topics: News, Social Media, US News, Politics

Chris Ogden

Chris Ogden is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from the University of East Anglia with degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing before completing his NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism. Chris has previously written for the independent culture magazine The Skinny, among other publications.

@TheThumbCompass