Fort Hood Massacre: NY Mayor Bloomberg cites lax gun laws as obstacles in Hasan probe

In a Friday, November 27, 2009 editorial that appeared in The Washington Post, Republican New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg cited "a federal law repeatedly supported by Congress [that] interfered with the FBI's ability to find out about [Major Nidal Malik] Hasan's purchase of a handgun." Had authorities known of the purchase, "it could have saved lives," Bloomberg opined.

Hasan is accused of murdering 13 people at Fort Hood located in Killeen, Texas, also home to the infamous Luby's massacre on October 16, 1991. In that previous rampage, George Hennard rammed his truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and slaughtered 23 people before turning the gun on himself.

Bloomberg (along with Thomas Kean) mentioned how Hasan had already been under investigation by the F.B.I. prior to the massacre. "It would be easy enough to point fingers at the F.B.I.," Bloomberg wrote, for their conclusion that Hasan's communications with radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki "were for professional reasons."

Bloomberg, however, cites something closer to home as a major problem in preventing Hasan from going on a shooting rampage: the Tiahrt amendments.

According to Bloomberg, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) sponsored legislation that calls for all gun sales records to be destroyed within 24 hours of purchase. This is down from the 180 days of access for background checks available to the F.B.I. during the Clinton Administration.

"This requirement...meant that Hasan's investigators were blocked from searching records to determine whether he or other terrorist suspects had purchased guns," Bloomberg surmised. The mayor added that former F.B.I. agent Brad Garrett agreed. "The piece of information about the gun could have been critical," declared Garrett.

In addition, Bloomberg noted that "Congress has also failed to close a gap in federal law that prevents the F.B.I. from blocking a sale to an individual under investigation for terrorist activity." The Bush administration asked Congress to block gun sales to terrorist suspects (a position also held by the Obama administration), however, Congress disagreed. Bloomberg cited a recent Government Accountability Office report that noted how easy it is for terrorist suspects to purchase guns and explosives in the United States.

Bloomberg warned Congress that until it "shows political courage...there will be more catastrophic breaches of national security and more tragic loss of life."

Photo: AP Photo/Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, file

Corey Mitchell is a critically acclaimed Los Angeles Times best-selling author of several true crime books including Dead and Buried, Pure Murder and Hollywood Death Scenes. He is also the founder of the premiere true crime website, In Cold Blog, executive producer for a new true crime television series, and a former Hollywood crime expert and blogger for the Discovery Channel. He can be reached at truecrimewriter@aol.com.

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