Chris Oberender’s mugshot.
Chris Oberender, a 21-year-old Minnesota man who shot his mother to death when he was 14, was able to purchase 15 separate firearms because of a paperwork glitch.
Oberender was convicted in 1995 for his mother’s murder and sentenced to live in a mental hospital until he turned 21. Under Minnesota law, Oberender was banned from owning any firearms due to his prior criminal history.
However, his Facebook page proudly displayed a pic of his newly acquired firearms:
How did this happen?
After being released from the mental hospital, Oberender passed a background check in 2011 and obtained a Minnesota gun permit. Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson told CBS News that this oversight occurred due to incomplete file-keeping by the courts.
Sheriff Olson, 32, first came across Oberender’s case when he was a young detective. He spoke about Oberender’s Facebook page and how it gave him away:
I saw the pictures that he had of guns on his Facebook page. He can’t have guns. Chris Oberender should not have guns.
Oberender is now sitting in jail awaiting trial on illegal possession of firearms charges. A CBS News video report on the Oberender can be seen below:
What’s worse, Minnesota state officials stated they have incomplete legal documentation for 168,000 people who want to purchase guns. If the state is unable to procure the complete records, then a permit must still be issued to any of these individuals within seven days.
Minnesota firearms laws can be read in the following document.