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Where'd They Get Their Guns?

An Analysis of the Firearms Used in High-Profile Shootings, 1963 to 2001

Date: April 15, 1999

Location: LDS Church Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah

Alleged Shooter: Sergei Babarin

People Killed: Three (shooter killed by police)

People Injured: Four

Firearm(s): Ruger .22 pistol

Circumstances

Babarin entered the LDS Church Family History Library and allegedly shot six people, killing two of them. Though there was no apparent motive, Babarin had a history of depression and dementia.

How Firearm(s) Acquired

The gun was legally purchased at a gun store. Babarin was on probation for misdemeanor weapons charges, but that crime is not a prohibited category under federal law. Babarin had a history of mental instability, including paranoid schizophrenia, but had never been involuntarily committed by a court, so his purchase was legal.

Steve Fidel, "LDS Leader Says Limit Gun Access," The Deseret News, 20 April 1999, sec. A, p. 1.
Amy Joi Bryson, "Getting a Gun All Too Easy," The Deseret News, 17 April 1999, sec. A, p. 1.
Ray Rivera, "S.L. Police Chief Calls for Tougher Gun Laws," The Salt Lake Tribune, 17 April 1999, sec. A, p. 4.
Jim Spencer, "Control Mandate by Gun Maker a Welcome Effort," Daily Press, 30 January 2000, sec. B, p. 1.
Paul Duggan, "Inside Texas Church, A Loner Snapped; Neighbors Saw Fort Worth Shooter as Angry and Disheveled, But Not a Threat," Washington Post, 17 September 1999, sec. A, p. 1.

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All contents � 2001 Violence Policy Center

The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury.