Report: Rancho Tehama Shooter Who Killed Five Was Barred from Firearm Possession

The man who shot and killed five people in Rancho Tehama on Tuesday was barred from firearm possession via court order.

Breitbart News reported that the alleged gunman, Kevin Janson Neal, killed four on Tuesday. However, the Associated Press now reports that investigators found the body of Neal’s wife under the floor of their home, which raises the number of innocents killed to five.

Neal’s shooting spree lasted about 45 minutes and covered numerous locations, after which time he was killed by police.

A judge barred Neal from possessing firearms after he “was charged with stabbing a neighbor” this year. And Neal’s attorney, Leo Barone, indicated that he “should have been unable to legally purchase guns because of the court order.” But Neal had two rifles and two handguns, all of which he acquired illegally.

Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston indicates that Neal had two rifles and two handguns. The rifles were “homemade” and the handguns were “registered in someone else’s name.” Neighbors told law enforcement that Neal “had been firing off hundreds of rounds of ammunition day and night.”

California has Gun Violence Restraining Orders, which amount to court-ordered confiscation of an individual’s firearms, and they have universal background checks, gun registration, 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, a gun safety certificate requirement, a “Good Cause” requirement for concealed carry, an “assault weapons” ban, a limited state-approved roster of guns that are legal to own, a ban on campus carry, a ban on teachers being armed in K-12 schools, a ban on open carry, and many other controls as well. Yet Neal was able to possess and use two rifles and two handguns to carry out his treachery.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.