How Many Mass Shooters Would Be Caught By A Background Check

In the wake of the shootings, President Joe Biden renewed calls for stronger gun laws — including banning assault weapons and expanding background checks.

WASHINGTON — The suspect in the shooting at a Bedrock, Colorado, supermarket was bedevilled of assaulting a high school classmate only still got a gun. The human defendant of opening fire on three massage businesses in the Atlanta area bought his gun just hours before the set on — no waiting required.

They are just the latest suspected U.S. mass shooters to obtain guns considering of express firearms laws, background bank check lapses or law enforcement's failure to mind warnings of apropos behavior.

In the wake of the shootings, which together left 18 people dead, President Joe Biden renewed calls for stronger gun laws — including banning assault weapons and expanding background checks. Many Republicans oppose the measures, and the National Burglarize Association blasted the discussions every bit a rush to "politicize this horrific situation."

A await at how suspects in recent mass shootings obtained guns, based on constabulary accounts, courtroom documents and contemporaneous reporting:

Bedrock, COLORADO: MARCH 22, 2021. 10 DEAD.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa bought a Ruger AR-556 pistol, a semi-automatic weapon with a 30-circular chapters, on March 16, police said. Days earlier, a judge struck down an ordinance that banned set on rifles and high-capacity magazines in Boulder, citing a country police force prohibiting local gun bans. A lawsuit challenging Boulder's ordinances had the bankroll of the NRA, which said the ruling gave "police force-abiding gun owners something to celebrate." Alissa was prone to sudden rage and was bedevilled of misdemeanor assault and sentenced to probation for attacking a high school classmate, police enforcement officials and one-time associates said. Information technology was non immediately known where Alissa purchased his gun or whether that incident came upwardly on a background bank check. Had he been convicted of a felony, his purchase would've been barred under federal law. Alissa is charged with 10 counts of murder.

ATLANTA: MARCH 16, 2021. 8 Dead

Robert Aaron Long purchased a 9 mm handgun but hours before going on a shooting rampage at iii massage businesses in the Atlanta area, police said. A lawyer for the gun store said information technology complies with federal background cheque laws. Georgia, like the bulk of states, has no waiting menstruum to obtain a gun. Long claimed to take a "sex addiction," police said, and he spent fourth dimension at an habit recovery facility last year. Federal law bans guns for people who are "unlawful users of or fond to a controlled substance" or who've been court ordered to a mental wellness or substance abuse handling facility, just doesn't mention treatment for other compulsions equally a barrier to ownership. Long is charged with eight counts of murder.

MIDLAND, TEXAS, AUG. 31, 2019. 7 DEAD.

Seth Aaron Ator purchased an AR-style rifle through a individual sale, allowing him to evade a federal groundwork check, and fired it indiscriminately from his motorcar into passing vehicles and shopping plazas. He also hijacked a mail truck, killing the driver. Ator had been blocked from getting a gun in 2014 after his groundwork check was flagged because a courtroom determined he was mentally ill, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter. Private sales, which account for upwardly to twoscore percentage of all gun sales co-ordinate to some estimates, are non subject area to a federal background check and individual sellers aren't required to determine if a heir-apparent is eligible to own a gun. Ator was killed past police.

DAYTON, OHIO: AUG. 4, 2019. 9 DEAD.

Connor Betts' classmates said he was suspended in high school for compiling a "hit listing" and a "rape list," but government said there was zip in his background that prevented him from purchasing the AR-15-manner pistol used in the shooting at Ned Peppers Bar. Ohio police requires that sealed records of any juvenile crimes be expunged either after five years or one time the offender turns 23. Betts, who was 24 at the fourth dimension of the shooting, bought the gun online from a Texas dealer. It was then shipped to a Dayton-surface area firearms dealer, in accordance with federal law. Betts was killed by law.

EL PASO, TEXAS, AUG. iii, 2019. 23 DEAD.

Patrick Crusius bought an AK-47-style rifle and 1,000 rounds of hollow-point ammunition online 45 days before the Walmart set on, prosecutors said. A Crusius family lawyer said his mother raised concerns near the purchase in a call to police force on June 27. Law said she asked if Crusius, who was 21 at the time, was former enough to buy a gun. Law said she was assured he was and that he'd qualify if he passed a background bank check. Police said she expressed business organization only about his safety and said she'd seen no recent alter in his behavior. Texas does not have the kind of "ruby flag law" that in other states allows courts to accept guns from people posing immediate danger. Crusius posted a racist screed online merely earlier the assault and appeared to target Mexicans. He's charged with upper-case letter murder in Texas and federal hate crimes and firearms offenses.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA: MAY 31, 2019. 12 DEAD.

One-time Virginia Beach city employee DeWayne Craddock legally purchased six firearms in the three years earlier he opened fire on a municipal building, including the two .45-caliber pistols used in the attack. An contained review of the shooting, commissioned by the Metropolis of Virginia Beach, constitute that Craddock displayed no warning signs or "prohibited behaviors associated with a pathway to violence," and that he had no known history of mental health treatment. Craddock was killed past police.

THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA: NOV. vii, 2018. 12 DEAD.

Ian David Long, a former Marine machine gunner who served in Afghanistan, used a legally purchased .45-caliber pistol with an extended magazine in the shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill. California tried to outlaw high-capacity magazines, but a federal judge reversed that after a pro-gun group sued. Months before the shooting, sheriff's deputies chosen to Long'south dwelling house institute him interim irrationally, but a mental wellness specialist didn't feel he needed to be involuntarily committed. California has a "red flag law," but in that location's no indication authorities sought a court order to take away Long's guns. Long killed himself.

PITTSBURGH: Oct. 27, 2018. xi Expressionless.

Robert Gregory Bowers had a behave license and legally endemic the Filly AR-15 SP1 and three Glock .357 handguns police said he used to impale worshipers at Tree of Life synagogue. Bowers spent months posting aroused rants against Jews on Gab, a social media site favored by right-wing extremists. He also posted photos of his "glock family." Just before the assault, he posted a screed against a Jewish organisation that resettles refugees, proverb: "I can't sit by and lookout man my people get slaughtered. Screw your eyes, I'm going in." None of the rhetoric appeared to enhance red flags. His instance is awaiting.

SANTA FE, TEXAS: MAY. 18, 2018. x DEAD.

Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a 17-year-old educatee, used a shotgun and a .38-caliber handgun that his father purchased legally and stored in a closet at their habitation, authorities said. It wasn't articulate if his male parent knew he'd taken the guns. Prior to the attack, Pagourtzis posted a photo on social media of a T-shirt with the phrase "Born to Kill" and had writings indicating he planned to assail his loftier school. A estimate sent him to a mental health facility subsequently ruling he was incompetent to stand trial.

PARKLAND, FLORIDA: February. 14, 2018. 17 Expressionless.

Nikolas Cruz legally purchased a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle in February 2017 from a licensed dealer a few miles from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, authorities said. He'd been treated at a mental health clinic but hadn't been there in more than a year. Federal police force prohibits gun purchases if a court declares a person a "mental defective" or commits them to an institution, but non if the person seeks treatment voluntarily. Federal law allows people equally young equally 18 to buy semi-automatic weapons. Cruz was xix at the time of the shooting. His trial has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, TEXAS: November. 5, 2017. 25 DEAD.

Devin Patrick Kelley's history of domestic corruption barred him from buying guns. He was able to because information well-nigh his crimes was never entered into a federal database used for groundwork checks. The Air Force failed to follow rules requiring that it inform the FBI about his comport. Kelley purchased four guns, including an AR-xv-style burglarize found at First Baptist Church, from licensed Texas and Colorado dealers over a four-year span. Kelley killed himself.

LAS VEGAS: OCT. 1, 2017. 58 DEAD.

Stephen Paddock purchased 33 of the 49 weapons found in his hotel room and at his homes in the year earlier he opened burn on a state music festival. Paddock passed all background checks. His gradual accumulation of guns went undetected considering federal law doesn't require licensed gun dealers to alert the government nearly burglarize purchases. Paddock killed himself.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: JUNE 12, 2016. 49 DEAD.

Omar Mateen purchased an AR-15-style rifle, a Sig Sauer MCX, and a handgun from a licensed dealer on carve up days almost a calendar week before the Pulse nightclub attack. He passed a background bank check and had a security license that allowed him to be armed while on duty. The FBI investigated Mateen in 2013 and 2014 over co-workers' concerns that he'd spoken nigh ties to terror groups. Neither enquiry led to charges. Even if he'd been placed on a terrorism watch list, Congress in 2015 rejected attempts to prevent people on the listing from purchasing guns. Mateen was killed by police.

SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA: DEC. two, 2015. 14 DEAD.

Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, used weapons the FBI said his neighbour, Enrique Marquez, legally purchased from a licensed dealer in 2011 and 2012. Marquez pleaded guilty to charges he conspired to provide support to terrorists and made false statements to learn a firearm. He told investigators Farook asked him to buy the weapons because he would draw less attending. Farook and Malik were killed by police force.

ROSEBURG, OREGON: OCT. 1, 2015. x DEAD.

Christopher Harper-Mercer and his family members legally purchased the handguns and rifle used in the Umpqua Community College shooting from a licensed dealer. Investigators establish six guns at the college and 8 at an apartment. Neighbors said Harper-Mercer and his mother went target shooting together. Harper-Mercer killed himself after he was wounded by police.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: JUNE 17, 2015. 9 Dead.

A drug arrest should've prevented Dylann Roof from purchasing the pistol he used at Emanuel AME Church building, but a record-keeping error and background check filibuster enabled the transaction to go through. The FBI said a groundwork cheque examiner never saw the arrest report considering the wrong arresting agency was listed in country criminal history records. Later iii days, the gun dealer was legally permitted to complete the transaction. He was convicted and is on federal death row.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: SEPT. 16, 2013. 12 Expressionless.

Aaron Alexis, a sometime reservist turned noncombatant contractor, passed background checks and legally purchased the shotgun used in the Washington Navy Yard shooting despite recent mental wellness treatment and a history of violent outbursts. He previously fired a gun in anger twice but wasn't prosecuted in either case. Alexis was killed past law.

NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT: Dec. xiv, 2012. 26 DEAD.

Adam Lanza used his female parent'south weapons, including a .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle, in the massacre at Sandy Claw Elementary School. Lanza's mother, whom he fatally shot before going to the school, besides purchased the ammunition. Lanza killed himself.

AURORA, COLORADO: JULY twenty, 2012. 12 Expressionless.

James Holmes was receiving psychiatric treatment when he passed required federal background checks and legally purchased the weapons he used in his movie theatre assail. As in the Parkland and Navy Yard cases, handling alone did not prevent him from buying guns. He was convicted and sentenced to 12 life terms and thousands of years in prison.

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Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.