The suspect accused of opening fire and killing 12 innocents in Virginia Beach reportedly purchased his handgun “legally.”
This means he passed a background check and complied with all gun controls in obtaining his .45 handgun, which he used in the attack.
NBC News reported that a federal official said that “the suspect, who had worked for the city for about 15 years as an engineer recently purchased multiple firearms legally.”
Below is a partial list of other mass shooters who acquired their firearms via background checks:
- Poway Synagogue attacker (April 27, 2019)
- Tree of Life Synagogue attacker (October 27, 2018)
- Parkland high school attacker (February 14, 2018)
- Texas church attacker (November 5, 2017)
- Las Vegas attacker (October 1, 2017)
- the Alexandria attacker (June 14, 2017))
- Orlando attacker (June 12, 2016)
- the UCLA gunman (June 1, 2016))
- the San Bernardino attackers (December 2, 2015)
- the Colorado Springs attacker (October 31, 2015)
- the Umpqua Community College attacker (October 1, 2015)
- Alison Parker’s attacker (August 26, 2015)
- the Lafayette movie theater attacker (July 23, 2015)
- the Chattanooga attacker (July 16, 2015)
- the alleged Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal attacker (Jun 17, 2015)
- the Muhammad Carton Contest attackers (May 3, 2014)
- the Las Vegas cop killers (June 9, 2015)
- the Santa Barbara attacker (May 23, 2014)
- the Fort Hood attacker (April 2, 2014)
- the Arapahoe High School attacker (December 13, 2013)
- the D.C. Navy Yard attacker (September 16, 2013)
- the Aurora movie theater attacker (July 20, 2012)
- Gabby Giffords’ attacker (January 8, 2011)
- the Fort Hood attacker (November 5, 2009)
- the Virginia Tech attacker (April 16, 2007)
The list of attackers acquiring guns legally is important because Democrats often emerge from a mass shooting incident with calls for universal background checks. This amounts to expanding our current background check system to cover private gun sales as if they were retail. Such a move would do nothing to stop attackers who are already passing background checks to acquire their guns.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.