Stringent Gun Controls Fail as Man Opens Fire, Shooting Two in Washington Grocer

gun violence
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Two people were shot Monday at a Fred Meyer in Richland, Washington, despite the fact that the state has some of the most stringent gun controls in the country.

The Tri-City Herald reports that 39-year-old Aaron Christopher Kelly allegedly opened fire in the grocery store around 11 a.m. Monday, killing one person and critically wounding a second.

The deceased individual was identified as 38-year-old Justin Krumbah.

The Associated Press notes that officers responding to the shooting were on the scene one minute after dispatchers received the call.

Everytown for Gun Safety ranks Washington state as the ninth most gun-controlled state in the Union. The state has universal background checks, a red flag law, gun storage requirements, regulations on so-called “ghost guns,” a state-level law extending the time allowable for conducting a gun sale background check, and prohibitions against carrying a gun for self-defense on college or K-12 campuses, among other controls.

Everytown observes, “After passing a slate of new gun safety laws in the past decade, Washington now leads the ‘making progress’ tier of states—and is among the top 10 states in terms of gun-law strength. The Evergreen State has one of the lower rates of gun violence in the nation.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkinsa weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.

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