MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Monday the FBI said it has no reason to believe Orlando’s massacre was part of a larger terror plot.
The weekend rampage at the gay club Pulse left 49 people dead. Now federal officials said Omar Mateen was most likely a case of “homegrown terrorism.”
“There are strong indications of radicalization by this killer and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations,” said FBI Director James Comey.
Federal officials said Matern was on the terror watch list at one point; he was investigated then removed. Despite the investigation Mateen was still able to legally buy two guns within the last two weeks.
Now many are wondering how the suspect was able to get his hands on semi-automatic weapons after the investigation. This is now renewing a gun control push by democratic lawmakers nationally and locally.
“It’s time for us to all say together enough is enough,” said Kat McRitchie.
McRitchie is part of the Memphis chapter of Moms Demand Action, a grassroots campaign started after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Her group pushes for background checks on all gun buyers.
According to investigators, the accused shooter in the Orlando massacre, Mateen, purchased guns in Florida legally despite being interviewed by the FBI twice for possible radical terrorism ties.
“The flags were up, I mean they knew,” said Jay Hill, owner of Classic Arms in Cordova.
Buying a gun in the state of Florida is pretty easy. In a 2013 report, gun control group the Brady Campaign gave 26 states, including Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi, an “F” in its state scorecard.
Hill expects the topic of gun control to be front and center over the next few weeks but doesn’t believe outlawing any style of gun will make a difference in preventing tragedies.
“Even if it was not a gun then it’s going to be something else…outlaw knives?”
Tennessee State State Sen. Lee Harris has several proposals in the works, including a gun violence restraining order. The order would restrict a person’s access to a gun if they are in an emotionally unstable state; family and friends could file the restraining order in court.
“For a limited period of time let’s take their guns away and let’s restrict their access to new weapons. If we’ve done that in this case it would’ve stopped, it might’ve stopped situations like this,” said Harris.
The Democrat also wants the TBI to work with local law enforcement if the FBI is looking at a particular person trying to buy a gun.
“So that local law enforcement knows, hey we’ve got someone on the FBI watch list that is trying to arm up and that maybe we should keep an eye on this guy and investigate him a little more,” he explained.
Harris has tried to introduce the policies he’s talked about before, but they didn’t have the support needed. He plans to reintroduce them in the next legislative session and believes they will have more backing.
