[Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Federal authorities say the Las Vegas killer bought 33 weapons in the last year alone, but the repeated gun purchases did not sound any alarm bells. CNN's Jessica Schneider takes a closer look at why.
[Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Law enforcement sources say Stephen Paddock amassed 33 guns just in the past year. Many of those 33 may have been stockpiled inside his Mandalay Bay hotel suite where he orchestrated a shooting massacre. The spray of bullets lasted nine to 11 minutes, killing 58 country music concertgoers. Inside the suite, investigators counted 23 weapons.
[Unidentified Female:] It is still being determined which firearms were used in the shooting.
[Schneider:] Twelve of the weapons inside Paddock's room were equipped with bump fire stocks, a device demonstrated in this YouTube video. It allows the weapon to fire in rapid succession simulating fully automatic fire. A bump fire stock is legal and easy to obtain.
[Sam Rabadi, Former Special Agent In Charge, Atf:] Very easy. It can be purchased directly from the company or in different online sales from a number of vendors.
[Schneider:] Investigators have uncovered 47 firearms so far, 23 from inside Paddock's hotel room and another 24 from his homes in Mesquite and Verdi, Nevada. Law enforcement sources say Paddock has been accumulating his collection of weapons for the past 20 years. The sales apparently never raised any red flags since Paddock had no criminal history. And out west, the possession of large quantities of firearms by hunters and collectors isn't uncommon.
[Rabadi:] There are states in the country where there's a lot of hunting that goes on and outdoor activities. There are also areas where you have a higher population of collectors. So the purchase of that many firearms, in and of itself, would not necessarily be an indicator for us.
[Schneider:] Rabadi estimates Paddock's arsenal cost tens of thousands of dollars, with some weapons costing two to four thousand dollars each. Paddock purchased his guns in four separate states Nevada, Utah, California, and Texas, according to the ATF, frequenting shops in Nevada. He bought several long guns at Cabela's in Verdi, according to a law enforcement source. In Las Vegas, he bought a shotgun and a rifle from the New Frontier gun shop, and two rifles and one handgun from Discount Firearms & Ammo in November and December of 2016. In Mesquite, Paddock purchased a handgun and two rifles from Guns & Guitars within the past year. And the owner of Dixie GunWorx in St. George, Utah sold Paddock a shotgun.
[Chris Michael, Owner, Dixie Gunworx:] He passed all of our background checks here in the store. He passed every red flag that could have popped up. But it's still it's still there. It's still something that I'm still going what else could I have done better.
[Schneider:] There is no national registry of firearm ownership in the United States so even though Paddock acquired 33 guns in the span of one year, since they were from different locations and he presumably passed background checks, no red flags were ever raised, enabling Paddock to carry out his horrific attack. Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
[Camerota:] OK. Joining us now is retired ATF special agent Sam Rabadi. Mr. Rabadi, thanks so much for being here. So obviously, we're getting this crash course in all of the things that feel like there's some sort of loophole in the law or that at least should be looked at. The idea that this guy could buy 33 guns in the space of one year, do you think that that should have raised some red flag and that there should be some system in place to alert someone to purchases like that?
[Rabadi:] So, there are a number of restrictions per federal law in terms of being able to maintain information about gun purchases, as was mentioned in just the previous piece here. There is no federal or national registry of firearms purchases. The only thing that ATF is able to maintain is information about a purchaser when that gun is recovered in a crime. In this particular case none of the guns, as far as I know, that were purchased by Paddock were recovered in any kind of crimes. There were no other indicators from these purchases that had come to ATF's attention
[Camerota:] Yes.
[Rabadi:] that would sort of peak our interest to be able to take a closer look.
[Camerota:] Yes. Would it help the ATF fight crime if there were a federal registry of gun purchases?
[Rabadi:] Well, certainly, if something like that existed it would aid all of law enforcement to be able to look at information about a purchaser, especially when there are multiple firearms that are being purchased
[Camerota:] Yes.
[Rabadi:] and being recovered in crimes. But the way the law is right now there is a very strict prohibition against doing that.
[Camerota:] Let's talk about the bump stocks. When you and I first spoke on Tuesday in the, you know, hours when people were still piecing together what had happened, that's when you first started basically explaining to so many of us who didn't know that these bumps stocks that can turn a semiautomatic rifle into an automatic weapon. That they are legal to buy and readily available and inexpensive. As a law enforcement officer for so many years, as you were, do you think those devices should be illegal?
[Rabadi:] So, even though this particular accessory is legal, I find my own personal opinion very, very few, if any, uses legitimate uses for this type of accessory. It would never really be used during hunting. It's just the gun could be pretty inaccurate difficult to maintain control of because of the use of the accessory. It would not really be used for target practice. The only legitimate use, as has been discussed the last couple of days, is more of the thrill of being able to shoot a machine gun-type of rifle. That's pretty much the only legitimate use I could see. As a law enforcement officer, as I mentioned the last couple of days, you know, the last thing I would ever want to see is this kind of device attached to a long gun that a law enforcement officer has to go up against.
[Camerota:] Right.
[Rabadi:] It's pretty scary.
[Camerota:] I mean, that is what we saw. That is what allowed this gunman to mow down 58 people and injure close to 500 in the space of 10 minutes. And the idea that he could do it inexpensively and easily online And I have other bad news for people. The sales of the bump stock have spiked, obviously, since Tuesday.
[Rabadi:] Yes.
[Camerota:] Not surprising. Talking about it then heightened interest in it and so now, one of the manufacturers of it is sold out of the bump stocks. So, as a law enforcement officer I mean, again, you devoted your life for, I think, 26 years to this would you call on Congress to ban this device of the bump stock?
[Rabadi:] Absolutely. Congress has the ability and obviously, the authority to make changes to the law that addresses these types of accessories. I'm not surprised to hear that sales have been increased with this type of device. I would even argue prior to a couple of days ago the vast majority of America, to include a number of law enforcement officers, didn't even know that this type of accessory existed. Congress not only has the ability but should go ahead and make adjustments and amendments to the law related to machine guns.
[Camerota:] I'm just trying to figure out its history. Did the ATF the organization, of course, that you worked for did it approve the sale of these bump stocks a couple of years ago?
[Rabadi:] It approved yes, it approved the use and the sale of these items, specifically because of the legal language within the law. This particular accessory because of the technical nature of the law, does not fit within the definition of a machine gun.
[Camerota:] Right. But, I mean, wasn't that how did the ATF let that one slip by? I mean, why would the ATF approve the sale of something like this?
[Rabadi:] Again, Alisyn, because when ATF is looking at these types of accessories or any other type of items that fall under the National Firearms Act and the Gun Control Act, we have to stick to the letter of the law. What's written in there, the technical language, the definitions, that's our guiding principle. We go exactly according to the law. That's why I just mentioned that it's really up to Congress
[Camerota:] Yes.
[Rabadi:] to provide the right common sense kind of language within these laws and allow agencies such as ATF to enforce those laws.
[Camerota:] Look, so many people thought that after the tragedy in Newtown at Sandy Hook where so many little kids were killed, that there would be some common sense proposals. But, as you know, that got mired in all sorts of Congressional infighting and partisanship. Do you think that what we saw this week, the tragedy in Las Vegas do you think that again, something incremental like what you're calling for the bump stock to be banned do you think that there will be some sort of action in Congress?
[Rabadi:] Alisyn, I certainly hope so. You know, I think if you polled any law enforcement officer, regardless of political affiliation, they would all tell you that we need to somewhere be within the middle ground. There are plenty of common sense actions that can be taken to not only, you know, have law enforcement feel safer doing their jobs and what we're up against on the street, but all of our citizens. We're not asking for major, massive revisions to some of the laws, but just some of the common sense stuff that you and I can both look at and come to an agreement and say you know what, something like this will definitely allow us to do our jobs better and make us safer.
[Camerota:] Sam Rabadi, thanks. We appreciate your expertise and experience in this field. Thanks so much.
[Rabadi:] Thank you, Alisyn.
[Camerota:] Let's get to Chris in Washington.
[Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] All right. President Trump says now is not the time to talk about gun control. When is the time to talk about it, if ever? Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway is going to join us live, next.