USA TODAY International Edition
Our view: Saudi shooter got a hunting license, then a Glock
Bloodshed in Pensacola, Florida, has uncovered a bizarre loophole in federal gun laws that begs to be closed, even as President Donald Trump and Congress remain paralyzed in responding to the mass shootings that traumatize America nearly every week.
The loophole allows foreign nationals, including those who might arrive in America bent on terrorism, to legally go out and buy a gun.
Sound crazy?
That’s evidently what happened in Florida, where a Saudi military officer — quietly radicalized as a teenager — simply went to a gun store, purchased a 9mm Glock handgun and opened fire in a Pensacola Naval Air Station classroom. A week ago, he killed three U. S. sailors and wounded eight before being gunned down by a sheriff ’ s deputy.
The shooter, Mohammed Alshamrani, was able to arm himself simply by acquiring a hunting license. Yes, federal law allows foreign nationals residing in the USA on nonimmigrant visas to legally own a gun if granted a hunting license — something that in Florida, for example, only requires completion of an online gun safety course.
This hunting- license loophole was a stunning revelation to many, including Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis. “The Second Amendment applies so that we, the American people, can keep and bear arms,” DeSantis said. “It does not apply to Saudi Arabians.”
Alshamrani arrived in America in 2017 to take part in a Pentagon training program for foreign military service members. He was slated to finish in August. With his residency, he could purchase a gun so long as he passed a background check, and with a hunting license he could legally possess and keep a firearm.
Only after the shooting did Saudi officials learn that Alshamrani began to embrace radical ideology as far back as 2015. Authorities are investigating whether he was responsible for a tweet decrying “crimes against Muslims” a few hours before the Pensacola attack, and whether his radicalization took a more lethal turn during a visit back to the kingdom last year.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper has ordered a review of the foreign military training program. Meanwhile, the governor is insisting that federal exceptions allowing foreign nationals to possess firearms in America be reviewed and possibly ended.
Of course, the hunting license loophole isn’t the only way Alshamrani could have gotten a gun. In Florida and elsewhere, there are ways to purchase a firearm from a private seller and avoid a criminal background check.
The gun- rights lobby has exerted extraordinary pressure on Trump and members of Congress to successfully block commonsense legislation allowing universal background checks and banning military- style assault rifles.
These measures have been blocked in the name of safeguarding a constitutional right to own a gun. But DeSantis is correct: It’s crazy to extend that same right to those who come into the country bent on harming Americans.