Gary Martin, the man who shot five co-workers to death and injured several police officers last week in Aurora, Illinois, was legally barred from owning the .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun he used. Had it been confiscated, or its purchase prevented, his victims might never have been shot.
It's a tragic story that repeats itself again and again.
Martin, who died in a shootout with police, was convicted of felony aggravated assault in Mississippi in the early 1990s and served five years in prison. But Martin was able to buy the gun in 2014 from a licensed dealer, and he did so five weeks after receiving a gun license in Illinois that the state never should have issued to a felon.
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