Omar Mateen, who committed the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, bought his firearms legally. So, Mateen passed a background check for the weapons, which has become the foundation of the anti-gun left. In other words, the gun control crowd's own agenda wouldn’t have prevented this horrific attack—and there are many reasons why.
CBS News reported earlier today that Mateen had no prior criminal history. It was later reported by NBC News that the FBI had looked into Mateen for spouting radical Islamic propaganda that raised the eyebrows of some of his coworkers in 2013. In 2014, he once again became a person of interest for the FBI but both instances ended with the federal law enforcement agency concluding that no further inquiry was required. Daily Beast added that’s not to say that the FBI kept them off their radar.
No prior criminal history meant that prior to the attack, Mateen wouldn’t have been prohibited from buying firearms. As for the FBI’s inquiries, it’s not against the law to have extremist views.
ATF: The gunman legally purchased the firearms within the last week. In Florida.
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 12, 2016
Guns traced in #Orlando shooting: .223 caliber AR type rifle and 9mm semiautomatic pistol. Similar to those pictured pic.twitter.com/Ao5pcLtwBg
— ATF HQ (@ATFHQ) June 12, 2016
BREAKING: ATF Orlando "We have completed urgent traces on firearms involved in #Orlando shooting. Firearms purchased legally."
— ATF HQ (@ATFHQ) June 12, 2016
Mateen was employed as a private security officer for G4S Secure Solutions. G4S managed security for the 2012 London Olympics and are cooperating with authorities. The UK Independent reported that besides his security officer license, Matten had two other firearms licenses, and a statewide permit as well.
During the attack, Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS, who later claimed responsibility for the attack. This is likely going to be reclassified as a terrorist act, and the FBI is investigating the matter as such.
Mateen’s father, Seddique Mateen, said that while this act by his son was shocking, “this had nothing to do with religion.”
“We are saying we are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren't aware of any action he is taking. We are in shock like the whole country."
Yet, as The Washington Post reported, Seddique appears to be a supporter of the Afghan Taliban.
Now, what about the terrorist watch list? The anti-terror program that has little to no due process has become another focus of anti-gun liberals, as they attempt to incorporate this into the National Instant Background Check System (NICS). Yes, liberals think mere suspicion should bar you from exercising your Second Amendment rights. Even the pro-gun control LA Times thought that was a bridge too far. Not to mention, it’s a highly flawed system. Regarding the separate no-fly list, which is also under the FBI's Terrorist Screening Database, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy was placed on it, and children as young as 18 months have been flagged. Nevertheless, that isn’t going to stop Democrats from voting on trying to prevent Americans, who may or may not be terrorists, from exercising one of the oldest civil rights in the country.
Also, we don’t know if Mateen was on a terror watch list.
UPDATE: Mateen was on the terror watch list, but removed after the conclusion of the 2013 and 2014 FBI inquiries.