Buy as much as you want.
That was the reaction to a request for 10,000 bullets at gun stores spanning Richfield to Robbinsdale.
The ease of stockpiling ammunition once again became apparent after police discovered that the perpetrator of one of the deadliest mass shootings in Minnesota history had packaging for 10,000 rounds of ammunition in his south Minneapolis home.
Last Thursday, Andrew J. Engeldinger had a Glock 9-millimeter handgun, two 15-round magazines and several loose rounds when he killed four co-workers, a UPS man and himself after being fired from Accent Signage Systems. In addition to the ammunition shipping boxes, police found a second Glock 9mm handgun in his house.
Authorities have not specified how Engeldinger purchased his ammunition, but Minneapolis police Sgt. Stephen McCarty said Engeldinger possibly ordered it online from an out-of-state dealer.
It might not matter: There are no limits on how much ammunition a person can buy for a handgun, beyond a requirement that they be 21. That's despite calls from some lawmakers to at least keep closer watch on big purchases following revelations that James Holmes, who killed 12 people and injured 58 others in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater in July, had bought 6,000 rounds off the Internet.
But advocates of gun-owner rights say restricting or monitoring those purchases would be pointless, because possessing large amounts of ammunition is no indicator of malicious intent. They say gun enthusiasts often buy ammunition in large quantities to save money and to have enough for frequent trips to the shooting range.
The lack of scrutiny for ammunition sales was evident in visits to Gander Mountain in Eden Prairie, Joe's Sporting Goods in St. Paul, Bill's Gun Shop and Range in Robbinsdale, and Metro Pawn and Gun in Richfield.