ATF says Newtown gunman not at ranges recently

NEWTOWN, Conn. (WABC) -- So popular are guns here that the Shooting Sports Foundation, second only to the NRA as the most powerful gun lobbying group is headquartered two miles from the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"The people who show up here are from all walks of life," Dean Price, Wooster Mountain Shooting Range, said.

The operator of this nearby shooting range says there's nothing unusual about the guns the shooter's mother owned. He finds fault with her failure to secure them from her mentally disabled son.

"He apparently is a very disturbed young man with a lot of serious problems. Why did she let him have access to firearms at any age?" Price said.

A friend of Nancy Lanza says she was safety conscious.

"Very responsible with weapons. Very, in terms of safety," Russ Hanoman said.

Federal agents say the mother purchased her 4 guns between 2010 and early this year and that Adam and his mom practiced at firing ranges, but not recently.

One of the major unanswered questions has been whether Lanza trained in advance for Friday's attack that killed 20 children and six adults inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Lanza also killed his mother at home and himself.

A former ATF agent says Adam Lanza did not need much practice with his mother's gun to cause so much carnage.

"In a confined area, any assault type weapon - you really don't have to train, just point and shoot," Joseph Green, former ATF Agent, said.

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