Why the nightclub shooter was able to buy guns despite two FBI probes of possible terrorist links
The gunman who opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday, killing 49 people and injuring 53 others, was able to buy an assault weapon and handgun in the weeks before the assault even though he was investigated twice by the FBI for possible ties to terrorism.
The gunman, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, called 911 from the club and declared his allegiance to the Islamic State, according to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). He was killed by police, putting the death toll at the Pulse nightclub at 50, the Washington Post reports.
Matteen had worked for a private security firm. A neighbor told CNN he had staffed metal detectors at a courthouse in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
The FBI had investigated Mateen in 2013 and again in 2014, but closed the investigations after finding no solid evidence of links to terrorism.
The first investigation was opened after Mateen told co-workers that he had family and friends in terrorist groups and connections to the Boston Marathon bombers, according to the Wall Street Journal. He told FBI agents his talk was simply bluster. The second probe was opened because Mateen attended the same mosque as a Florida man who became a suicide bomber in Syria. The FBI determined contacts between the two men were minimal.
Still, Mateen was believed to be on at least one terrorism watch list, according to the New York Times article.
Business Insider spoke with Stetson University law professor Charles Rose III about Mateen’s ability to buy the guns.
Rose said the United States handles domestic terrorism as criminal rather than military activity, and that means suspects retain their constitutional rights. “Someone can assert their association with ISIS under the freedom-of-speech umbrella and say they’re going to do something, but until they do it, they have all protections afforded to them under the law,” Rose said.
Even if Mateen had been on a watch list, that wouldn’t have necessarily prevented his gun purchase, former acting Homeland Security undersecretary John Cohen told ABC News. “Being on the watch list is not in itself disqualifying, under law,” he said.
The Senate defeated a bill in December that would bar people on terrorism watch lists from buying guns, NBC News reports, noting MSNBC coverage of the vote.
ABA President Paulette Brown issued a statement condemning the attack. “As an association committed to fairness and equality,” Brown said, “the ABA is horrified by any acts that target particular groups for their lifestyles, beliefs, background or ethnicity. The ABA will redouble our efforts to ensure that hatred, bigotry and violence do not take control of our nation. Our country’s commitment to the rule of law needs to prevail as we work to heal from this tragedy.”
Updated on June 14 to add statement by Paulette Brown.
