Assault Weapons Bill Would Not Have Stopped Navy Yard Shooting

FBI: Navy Yard shooter entered with shotgun

By Mario Trujillo - 09/17/13 02:53 PM ET

  

Aaron Alexis entered the Navy Yard with a single shotgun before killing 12 people Monday morning, the FBI said.

Valerie Parlave, assistant director of the FBI field office in Washington, said that Alexis purchased the shotgun lawfully in Virginia.

Alexis also may have acquired a handgun while inside the facility before he was killed, the FBI said.

Parlave said the FBI said it has no information to conclude that he also had an AR-15, a type of assault rifle.

“At this time we believe that Mr. Alexis entered building 197 at the Navy Yard with a shotgun,” Parlave said. “We do not have any information at this time that he had an AR-15 in his possession. We also believe that Mr. Alexis may have gained access to a handgun once inside the facility and after he began shooting.”

E

arly reports incorrectly indicated that Alexis might have carried a semi-automatic assault rifle. Some lawmakers, including Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), cited the weapon in calls to renew the gun control debate.

The FBI is still investigating Alexis’s past medical history, and said it would not comment on reports that he suffered from serious mental health issues, including paranoia and a sleeping disorder.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) had pushed for the reinstatement of an assault weapons ban earlier this year after the Newtown school shootings, in which an assault rifle was used.

But that proposal failed to make it into a larger gun control package that included a compromise on universal background checks.

Both the background check legislation and the ban on assault weapons were rejected in votes by the Senate earlier this year.