On Monday, President Obama implied that the gun control measures he proposes would have stopped the shooting in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which claimed six lives on Saturday. "Earlier this year, I took some steps that will make it harder for dangerous people, like this individual, to buy a gun," he said, "But clearly, we're going to need to do more if we're going to keep innocent Americans safe."
But if John Dalton, the suspect police apprehended, is indeed responsible for this tragedy, that's almost certainly not true. Dalton had no criminal or psychiatric record, meaning a universal background check like Obama wants to implement wouldn't have stopped him from buying weapons. A representative of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) told the Associated Press that there was no evidence Dalton ran afoul of current gun ownership laws, either.
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