The unfolding investigation into the background of the Cascade Mall shooting suspect in Washington State has laid bare the fundamental problem with gun control across the country that anti-gunners routinely ignore: People intent on committing mayhem will not be stopped by gun laws, especially background check requirements.
According to KING5 News, the suspect in this case, a legal resident alien who came to this country from Turkey, apparently tried to purchase a handgun at an Island County gun shop just hours before the rampage. However, the gun store would not sell a firearm, and the suspect allegedly asked if he could avoid the background check.
The gun prohibition lobby might regard this as a victory for the so-called “universal background check” required by Initiative 594 in 2014. In reality, it appears to be a predictable failure, because the suspect apparently went right out and obtained the murder weapon by means of theft from his step-father.
There is also now a report in the Seattle Times that the suspect may also have been trying to find a way into a nearby theater prior to attacking customers in the Macy’s store at the mall.
Keep in perspective that virtually all the mass shooters in recent memory did, in fact, pass background checks. In two significant cases, Sandy Hook in Connecticut and Thurston High School in Oregon, the shooters murdered their parents and took their guns.
KING5 has also uncovered the fact that the suspect in this case also violated federal and state voting laws by registering to vote and then participating in at least three elections. He cannot legally do that as a non-citizen. But he reportedly registered to vote in 2014 and has apparently voted in three elections including this year’s presidential primary.
That aspect of the story is raising alarms about the potential for illegal voting by other people. Secretary of State Kim Wyman told KING that there is no provision in state law that allows the state to verify someone’s citizenship. That’s an interesting dilemma, and one might conjecture that proposing such a law would result in opposition from so-called “sanctuary” proponents.
Wyman said something else of interest in that interview: “We’re in this place where we want to make sure we’re maintaining people’s confidence in the elections and the integrity of the process, but also that we’re giving this individual, like we would any voter, his due process. We’re moving forward, and that investigation is really coming out of the investigation from the shootings.”
It might be instructive to learn who the suspect voted for in the three elections in which he apparently returned a ballot.
The gun shop at which the suspect apparently tried to purchase a handgun has turned over surveillance videos to investigators.
