The man believed to have gunned down nine people in a black church in Charleston had bought the semiautomatic handgun he used legally, 25 miles from home, despite the fact that he had a pending drug charge against him, officials familiar with the sale told NBC News. The officials say he bought the 45-caliber Glock on April 11, barely a week after he turned 21, at Shooter's Choice in West Columbia. His friends told NBC News he had used birthday money his parents had given him to buy it, less than two months after he had been arrested at a shopping mall and charged with possession of a drug used to treat heroin addiction — a misdemeanor, and therefore not a disqualifying factor for his gun buy.
