NYC Skyscraper Shooting and 2027 New Laws

A Nevadan with an apparent history of mental illness shot up the offices of Blackstone in Manhattan using a rifle he purchased legally through a legal private party sale in Nevada. Four people were killed by the crazy, evil son a bitch.

Tamura bought the AR-15-style rifle in a private transaction from his supervisor in the Horseshoe Las Vegas surveillance department for $1,400, along with the BMW he drove cross-country to New York.

Since January 2, 2020, Nevada has required nearly all private firearm sales and transfers to be routed through a FFL, who must run the buyer through the state’s Point-of-Contact (POC) background check system. Even private party sales must go through a gun shop for the check, since 2020. A buyer’s concealed carry permit does not exempt a private transfer from the check—that means no old-style truly private sales and no Brady-list background check exemption as when you buy or transfer from the FFL themselves.

What happened during Tamura’s check is now central. Nevada’s POC program—used by FFLs instead of contacting FBI NICS directly—can return an “unresolved” result when examiners can’t reach a yes/no within the statutory window. State FAQs acknowledge that some Nevada dealers will, at their discretion, release a firearm after three business days if no denial arrives, reflecting the federal “default proceed” rule; others choose to wait. Multiple outlets, citing state records and law enforcement, report that Tamura’s 2024 check was “unresolved,” and that a previous 2022 check was also left unresolved. In other words, there is evidence the transfer was processed through an FFL and cleared to proceed after the waiting period expired without a denial, which is permissible under federal and Nevada law.

Under the Brady Act’s long-standing framework, if a background check isn’t completed within three business days, an FFL may legally transfer the firearm absent a denial—unless state law forbids it. Nevada’s own POC guidance mirrors that practice. Such releases during the "unresolved" state are called the “Charleston loophole" after a similar case involving Dyan Roof. It should be noted under our system of "innocent until proven guilty" and the large number of false positive with background checks that this "loophole" (it isn't one) is an important part of due-process and protecting rights. Otherwise one might get stuck in a hole where their approval never comes, like in Tamura's case where DPS never bothered to follow-through.

What will the Democrats propose in 2027: They will stipulate that FFLs will be unable to release a firearm to a buyer if the background check comes back "unresolved." That means even though you haven't been denied, you will effectively be denied under state law until such time as DPS gets its stuff together and completes the check. Unfortunately, this can potentially never be done, as in Tamura's case. 

Is it a big hindrance? No, and perhaps DPS will be forced to take action on "unresolved" cases and speed up the background check process, or at least the Legislature will be forced into finally allowing CCW holders to only do the 4473 instead of the whole process (fat change, after this, as Tamura had a CCW). 

In short, the private sale gun ban and background check did nothing to prevent this. Most killers obtain their guns legally without flagging a background check anyway. Nevertheless, the Left will use this as an excuse to tighten the screws on gun laws without doing anything about actual safety. But perhaps DPS will get spanked good and hard for their failings to resolve the background check.