FL School Gunman Should Have Been a Prohibited Person

By Dan Zimmerman

Details that have been revealed in the aftermath of last week’s horrific Parkland, Florida school shooting have revealed a Keystone Cops-like response to reports of the shooter’s disturbing behavior by the hapless sleuths at the FBI. Despite the gunman’s open declaration of wanting to shoot up a school and a variety of erratic behavior, the Fibbies utterly fumbled the situation.

But long before the gunman was first brought to the attention of the G-Men, before he was expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he displayed other behavior which, if handled properly at the time, would have prevented him from legally obtaining the the Smith & Wesson AR-15 he used to murder 17 people last week.

He had no criminal record and bought his rifle legally. He jumped through all of the requisite hoops every gun buyer is required to navigate including a federal background check. A background check which turned up nothing.

But he should have been a prohibited person. The New York Times reports that he was expelled from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for possessing knives on campus: