Colorado & Denver News

DENVER (AP) ― A gunman who was shot and killed in the state Capitol after claiming to be an emperor had tried to rent a gun to use at a fire range at a Fort Collins shop but was turned down after filling out a form saying he had suffered "delusions and depressions," the shop owner said Monday.

Tim Brough, owner of Rocky Mountain Shooters Supply, said Aaron Snyder also told store manager Bill Cates in a conversation that he was interested in learning to use a weapon because he was "the divine leader of the universe."

"We all assumed that buying a gun would come after the fact," Brough said, adding that it was unclear whether he told Cates he actually wanted to buy a gun.

Brough's comments were first reported by the Fort Collins Coloradoan on its Web site Monday.

Snyder, 32, visited Brough's shop in March. On April 2, he succeeded in buying a gun from Sportsman's Warehouse in the north Denver suburb of Thornton. He passed a state background check and the purchase was legal, authorities said.

Brough said Snyder returned to his shop with a gun on April 4 asking again to shoot at the range but was turned away. He said the next day Cates reported him to police at Colorado State University because he had a university e-mail address and in Thornton, where he lived, but that no formal police report was ever filed.

Thornton Deputy Chief Ken Reather told the Coloradoan Monday that he wasn't aware of the information reported about Snyder but was looking into it. Police didn't immediately return a call.

On July 16, Snyder went to the Capitol with a loaded Smith and Wesson .357 handgun and was shot just outside Gov. Bill Ritter's office by a member of Ritter's security detail after showing a gun and refusing orders to back down, authorities said.

Before he was shot, Snyder said, "I am the emperor and I'm here to take over state government."

Snyder never drew his gun, and no one besides him was hurt.

The brand of the pistol Snyder had at the Capitol match the one he bought at Sportsman's Warehouse, but police haven't confirmed it's the same one.

Jason Perez, manager of the Sportsman's Warehouse, was not working Monday and was unavailable for comment, store workers said. A message left at the store's corporate headquarters in Utah wasn't immediately returned.

Snyder graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins and briefly worked as an intern at a technology firm there.

Snyder wanted to try renting some models to try in Brough's shooting range.

Brough said he requires people to fill out a form listing any mental problems before using the shooting range, and that's where Snyder disclosed delusions and depression. Then Cates, a former police officer, questioned him more about that and why he wanted a gun, Brough said.

Brough said neither the state nor federal government requires the form, but many shops with shooting ranges use one like it because some people have attempted suicide at ranges.

The state-mandated background check for gun purchases requires only that buyers provide their names and date of birth. The background check is then made by phone or computer, with the buyer's information checked against several databases.

Among the reasons people can be barred from buying guns are conviction of a felony involving a firearm, being the subject of a restraining order, or having been declared "mentally defective" by a judge or involuntarily committed for treatment.

The law requires that any paperwork generated by the process be destroyed within 24 hours, and no records are kept, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety.

Brough said his shop refused to rent Snyder any guns or to let him use the shooting range when he first came to the store.

When he returned to use the shooting range in April, Snyder was told he would have to take a class first, Brough said. Snyder didn't make arrangements to take the class but did watch other people at the shooting range through a window, Brough said.

If Snyder had taken the course, he would have been allowed to use the shooting range, despite disclosing delusions and depressions, because participants are closely supervised, Brough said.

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