SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- A Santa Cruz man is tackled by police and wrestled to the ground after they said he reached for this gun in his waistband.
Officers headed to the Palomar Inn after someone called 911 and hung up.
When they called back, no one answered.
They showed up at the motel room and found Donald Jackson.
"He was kind of obscuring himself behind the door. Eventually he opened the door all the way and as he came out he lifted up his shirt and reached into a revolver that was in his waistband," said Deputy Chief Steve Clark of Santa Cruz Police.
That's when officers tackled and wrestled with him, then the gun bounced away.
Officers learned Jackson was not legally allowed to own or have a gun because he had been in a mental health facility.
Still, he told officers he bought the gun at a gunshow in San Jose.
Police said gunshow dealers have to follow the same laws as any other gun shop, including background checks for all purchases and reporting sales. According to the ATF, "felons buying or selling firearms were involved in more than 46 percent of the investigations involving gun shows."
"There may have been a sale or a transfer that happened between two individuals and not between an actual licensed firearm dealer and there have been some loopholes that were taken advantage of," said Deputy Chief Clark.
Investigators are still researching the history of the gun because of how old it is and how Jackson got it.
