The Midland-Odessa shooter who attacked innocents on Saturday reportedly acquired his gun privately in order to avoid drawing attention to himself via a background check.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R) noted Monday that the Midland attacker had “previously failed a gun purchase background check in Texas.” At that time no one knew the means by which the gun used in Midland was acquired, but on Tuesday CBS DFW reported the shooter acquired the gun privately “to evade the background check where he would have been flagged.”

The person who sold the gun to the Midland shooter may face “federal charges.” Such charges would depend on what the seller knew about the shooter, including knowledge of things such as the shooter’s mental condition and the fact the shooter had already failed a background check.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.