WATCH: Writer explains how it took him 38 minutes to buy an AR-15 -- two days after Orlando shooting

Appearing on MSNBC, a writer from the Huffington Post explained that it took him a little over a half hour to purchase a weapon similar to the one that allowed Omar Mateen to slaughter 49 nightclub-goers in Orlando last weekend.

As Democratic lawmakers push for tighter restrictions on guns, practically anyone in Florida -- even visitors from out of state -- can walk in and buy a military-style weapon and walk out with it the same day.

According to Roque Planas, he and associate Andy Campbell shopped around for a semi-automatic AR-15 in Orlando's gun shops.

"How long did it take you walk out of that gun shop with an AR-15?" asked MSNBC host Alex Witt.

"It took exactly 38 minutes, we actually had a timer going," Planas replied. "We basically just called around to a few shops, figured out their requirements --  they're extremely minimal -- my colleague has a Washington drivers license, he has his residence there, so we went to a store," adding that they were denied permission to film the transaction.

Planas stated the purchase could have been concluded even quicker except that the background check took a substantial amount of time because so many other shoppers across the country were also purchasing Ar-15's "similar to one the one used in the massacre last Sunday" which backed up the national background check system.

According to Planas, the gun shop employee said that a purchase of an AR-15 usually takes five to ten minutes on "a normal day," adding that, "Every time there is one of these shootings, people get paranoid our laws are going to change."

Planas also noted that below the counter, the gun shop had a photo of President Obama, "emblazoned with 'Firearms Salesman of the Year.'"

Watch the video below via MSNBC: