LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Las Vegas man accused of shooting and killing multiple people in a Manhattan building legally bought the gun used in the attack.
However, there are questions about how gaps in Nevada’s system may have allowed him access to firearms despite a documented history of mental health issues.
Police say Shane Tamura purchased the weapon used in the mass shooting from his supervisor at the Horseshoe Las Vegas in October 2024. The supervisor’s attorney told FOX5 the transaction followed all legal procedures.
Under Nevada law, private gun sales or transfers must be processed through a federally licensed dealer, where both parties complete a federal form known as 4473. That form includes a question about whether the buyer has ever been adjudicated as mentally defective or committed to a mental institution.
Once completed, the dealer must hold the gun until a background check clears the transfer.
“If he did in fact put ‘Yes,’ he would not have the firearm released,” said Kris Chanski, general manager of The Range 702 in Las Vegas.
Police records show Tamura had been placed on two psychiatric holds, once in 2022 and again in 2024. During both incidents, Las Vegas police were made aware that he owned a gun, police records show. Despite those encounters, Tamura held a concealed carry permit issued by Las Vegas police in June 2022 just three months before the first psychiatric hold.
Gun store owners say this could be an issue. Under Nevada law, a concealed carry permit allows a buyer to skip a background check when buying a gun.
“We don’t accept CCW as a form of a background check,” Chanski said.
State law outlines three circumstances under which a CCW permit should be denied or revoked: if a person has an outstanding arrest warrant, has been declared incompetent or insane, or has been admitted to a mental health facility within the past five years.
It is unclear whether Tamura’s permit was ever revoked.
However, Chanski tells FOX5 if a CCW gets revoked, the holder still holds onto the permit card.
“It’s kind of a crazy loophole,” Chanski said.
Through a records request, The Nevada Point of Contact Firearms Program confirmed to FOX5 it ran two background checks on Tamura, one in March 2022 and another in October 2024. Both came back as “unresolved,” meaning the state could not gather enough information to approve or deny the sale.
However, in Nevada, it is up to gun store owners to release the firearms despite a “unresolved” background check.
FOX5 has asked Metro Police about its protocol for revoking CCW permits and whether Tamura’s permit was active at the time of the Manhattan shooting. They have not yet responded.
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