The FBI warned months ago of a loophole that allows foreign nationals to legally purchase firearms while in the U.S.
The loophole gives foreign nationals legal purchaser status if they simply obtain a hunting license. The gunman who killed three people at Naval Air Station Pensacola allegedly acquired his gun “legally” at a Florida retailer because he was in possession of such a license.
Yahoo reports that the FBI put out a warning on May 22, 2019, alerting gun dealers to the possibility that foreign nationals hostile to the U.S. might acquire guns via the “hunting license exception.” The warning was titled, “Federal Hunting License Exception Could Be Exploited by Extremists or Criminal Actors Seeking to Obtain Firearms for Violent Attacks.”
The FBI noted that “terrorist organizations, including ISIS, have encouraged Westerners to exploit perceived gaps in gun laws to conduct mass casualty shooting attacks in their home countries.”
The Pensacola attacker, a Saudi national named Mohammed Alshamrani, bought his gun, a 9mm Glock, on July 20, 2019. He used that gun to carry out his horrific attack on Friday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) spokesperson Helen Aguirre Ferré said, “The governor has made clear that he is a strong proponent of the Second Amendment for United States citizens, but foreign nationals need to be treated differently. Gov. DeSantis is advocating federal partners to require, at a minimum, improved vetting by both the U.S. and foreign governments.”
Democrats have yet to voice support for curtailing foreign nationals’ ability to purchase firearms.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.