The gun used in the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was “legally purchased” by the shooter’s father, according to CBS News.
Moreover, USA Today noted, “An FBI official said Sunday that the bureau believes the rifle, using 5.56 ammunition, was purchased legally by [the shooter’s] father, Matthew Crooks.”
It is unknown whether the shooter stole the firearm from his father or had permission to use it.
When law enforcement speaks of a gun being purchased “legally” it means a purchaser passed a background check to acquire the firearm at retail.
Below is a short list of some of the high profile attackers who got their guns via background checks:
- UNLV attacker (December 6, 2023)
- Nashville Christian school attacker (May 27, 2023)
- Louisville Old National Bank attacker (April 10, 2023)
- Nashville Christian school attacker (March 27, 2023)
- Uvalde School attacker (May 24, 2022)
- Buffalo grocery attacker (May 14, 2022)
- Indianapolis FedEx attacker (April 15, 2021)
- Atlanta-area attacker (March 16, 2021)
- Parkland high school attacker (February 14, 2018)
- Texas church attacker (November 5, 2017)
- Las Vegas attacker (October 1, 2017)
- Alexandria attacker (June 14, 2017)
- Orlando attacker (June 12, 2016)
- UCLA gunman (June 1, 2016)
- San Bernardino attackers (December 2, 2015)
- Colorado Springs attacker (October 31, 2015)
- Umpqua Community College attacker (October 1, 2015)
- Alison Parker’s attacker (August 26, 2015)
- Lafayette movie theater attacker (July 23, 2015)
- Chattanooga attacker (July 16, 2015)
- Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal attacker (Jun 17, 2015)
- Muhammad Cartoon Contest attackers (May 3, 2014)
- Las Vegas cop killers (June 9, 2015)
- Santa Barbara attacker (May 23, 2014)
- Fort Hood attacker (April 2, 2014)
- Arapahoe High School attacker (December 13, 2013)
- D.C. Navy Yard attacker (September 16, 2013)
- Aurora movie theater attacker (July 20, 2012)
- Gabby Giffords’ attacker (January 8, 2011)
- Fort Hood attacker (November 5, 2009)
- Northern Illinois University attacker (February 14, 2008)
- Virginia Tech attacker (April 16, 2007)
Democrats continually push for background checks, but such checks were established in America by the 1993 Brady Act. Moreover, high profile shooters, many of whom have not criminal record, easily pass a background check to acquire a gun they plan to use criminally.
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, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
