Gun store owner says shooter passed all background tests
The owner of a gun store where the Orlando nightclub shooter bought his weapons says the gunman passed a full background check and that if he hadn’t bought the guns from him, he would’ve purchased them somewhere else.
Ed Henson is the owner of the St. Lucie Shooting Center. He told reporters during a news conference Monday outside his business that Omar Mateen legally purchased a long gun and a handgun about a week or so ago but he didn’t know on exactly what days. He said they weren’t bought on the same day.
Henson says Mateen had two security licenses, an armed one and an unarmed one. Henson says he is sorry this “evil person” bought the guns from his store.
ABC NEWS reports the weapons Mateen used were a .223 AR-style Sig Sauer MCX semiautomatic rifle and a Glock 17 9mm handgun. Officials said Mateen purchased and took home the rifle on June 4 and the next day purchased the Glock. He returned to the store to pick up the Glock on June 9.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News that during the three-hour attack on the nightclub early Sunday morning, Mateen used 30-round-capacity clips in the rifle, at least some of which were configured with two magazines taped together to allow the shooter to reload more quickly.
