Yesterday, Gary Montez Martin opened fire at a manufacturing facility in Aurora, Illinois. He murdered five people and wounded several police officers before he shot and killed by law enforcement. The latest update is that Martin shouldn’t have been allowed to own his firearm. He purchased a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber handgun in 2014 but was later discovered to have been convicted of an aggravated assault charge back in 1995 when he tried to apply for a concealed carry permit. As a result, he should have turned his firearm over to authorities. He didn’t (via NBC News)
On Saturday, Ziman said that Martin, 45, purchased a handgun on March 6, 2014, after being issued an Illinois Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) Card in January of that year. The firearm, a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber, was in Martin's possession as of March 11, 2014.
The FOID card application process includes a background check, but applicants are not fingerprinted, Ziman said
It was only when Martin applied for a concealed carry permit on March 16, 2014, that he was fingerprinted and it was revealed he had a 1995 felony conviction for aggravated assault in Mississippi.