Omar Mateen allegedly purchased his guns at St. Lucie Shooting Center.
Store owner Ed Henson tells reporters Mateen “did not buy the handgun and the long gun at the same.” This is because Florida handles handgun and long gun purchases differently.
Once a customer passes his background check he can immediately take possession of a long gun in Florida, but the state requires a 3-day waiting period on handgun purchases. Henson said the Palm Beach County waiting period is five days. Palm Beach describes the wait as a “cooling off period.” Henson said he did not remember the exact date that Mateen picked up his handgun, “but it was well over the 3-day waiting period.”
The bloody attack which Mateen allegedly perpetrated on June 12 betrays the impotency of such waiting periods.
Henson stressed that his store does not design their own background checks, they simply administer them. Background checks are a federal issue, with some states conducting their background checks on gun purchasers too.
Mateen passed the checks.
Henson apologized to reporters for not having more information to share. He said, “Unfortunately, he’s evil. We happened to be the gun store he picked. There’s nothing else I can say.”
When a reporter asked if he remembered Mateen’s face, Henson said, “He is a customer, he made a purchase, and it’s horrible. Sorry he picked my place. I wish he’d picked no place.”
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.
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