Oasis Outback: Uvalde killer's gun store at center of ammo smuggling case

The gun store where the Uvalde mass shooter picked up an assault-style rifle he may have used to massacre 21 children and teachers at an elementary school was at the center of an ammunition smuggling case several years ago. Oasis Outback sold more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition in one day to an Eagle Pass businessman who gave them to Mexican cartel operatives, court records show. “That’s very significant, and it’s close to the border so you know where it’s going,” said Davy Aguilera, a retired agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms who previously led the ATF office in San Antonio. “It’s obviously going to a bad guy to sell, transport or to use it. The general public is not going to buy that much.”

Oasis Outback wasn’t accused of violating any laws governing the sale of ammunition. In fact, there are few laws restricting the ammo trade. In most states, there is nothing illegal about buying or selling large quantities of civilian-use ammunition to just about any adult. Bullets are a commodity almost as unregulated as milk or bread, with no record keeping requirement, limit on volume per individual or disqualifying criminal history for buyers — unlike some rules governing gun sales. Also unlike guns, bullets don’t have serial numbers that can later be traced to a store or person. In all but a half dozen states, ammunition can be bought online or in person with no oversight. About six states have implemented point-of-sale checks, while Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey require licenses or permits to purchase or possess bullets. “Ammunition background checks, minimum age laws, and other commonsense policies regulating the sale and transfer of ammunition are important ways to keep deadly power away from those who threaten the safety of others,” the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in San Francisco says on its website.