Try pointing a camera at a cop; try pointing a gun at a cop. Judge, by inspection of the response, if they are treated the same.

Virginia is a “point of contact” state for background checks, so when handguns are purchased, those checks are performed by the state police. Elliott asserted that when a patron filled out paperwork at the gun show, including a state handgun purchase form and a federal Form 4473, ATF agents took the buyer’s address information while state police conducted the background checks. An officer was dispatched to the buyer’s home to confirm whether the individual actually lived at the address listed on the purchase form.

“As far as we’re concerned,” Elliott said, “it was illegal.”