Gun store owner: Orlando shooter would’ve gotten weapons somewhere

The owner of the store where the Orlando, Fla., shooting suspect purchased his weapons defended the shop’s practices, saying the suspect legally purchased the firearms.

“If he hadn’t purchased them from us, I’m sure he would have gotten them from another local gun store in the area,” Ed Henson, the owner of St. Lucie Shooting Center, said during a press conference on Monday.

{mosads}Henson said an “evil person” went into the shop and legally purchased two firearms. The man, who police have identified as Omar Mateen, had multiple security licenses, Henson said.

“He passed a background check that every single person that purchases a firearm in the state of Florida undergoes,” he said.

“A full background check was performed. … There is no such thing as an abbreviated background check.”

The handgun and the long gun were bought “approximately a week apart,” Henson said. 

The owner said he is familiar with the suspect, though he does not know him personally.

“He’s evil, we happen to be the gun store he picked,” Henson said, calling the incident “horrific.”

“I’m sorry he picked my place. I wish he picked no place.”

Florida state law does not require a permit to purchase long guns, nor is there a waiting period like there is for handguns.

The Orlando shooting occured early Sunday morning and left 49 people dead and many more injured, making it the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. 

An official from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed Sunday that Mateen had legally purchased the firearms before the shooting.