Alleged Kalamazoo Shooter’s Gun Was ‘Registered,’ Owned ‘Legally’

Kalamazoo law enforcement officials are confirming that alleged Kalamazoo gunman Jason Brian Dalton’s gun was “registered” and owned “legally.”

They also confirm that he had no criminal history or history of mental illness that would prevent him from buying or owning guns.

According to MLive, Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Jeff Hadley said Dalton allegedly used a 9mm to carry out the shootings that killed six on Saturday, and that 9mm “was owned legally.” The gun was “registered to [Dalton].”

Law enforcement officials said Dalton “admitted to fatally shooting a father and son from Mattawan at 10:08 p.m. in the parking lot of Seelye Automotive on Stadium Drive…[and also] admitted to being at the scene of a shooting at 10:24 p.m. at a Cracker Barrel restaurant a few miles from there, where four women were killed and a 14-year-old girl was critically injured.” He was picked out of a lineup by another victim who was shot but survived Saturday’s attacks.

The Chicago Tribune interviewed Jonathan Southwick, who owns a gun store about “20 miles north of Kalamazoo.” Southwick explained that “there are no laws you could put into place to stop what had happened.” Background checks only stop individuals who have a criminal past or a history of mental illness, they cannot foresee future events. North Carolina’s New Hanover County Sheriff Sgt. Jerry Brewer spoke to this point in February 2015 by explaining that background checks cannot stop latent criminals, only actual ones.

Nevertheless, Breitbart News reported that President Obama wants more gun control in the wake of the Kalamazoo shootings.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.