Looks like he was turned down to buy a gun and built one with parts he bought including a receiver with the serial number removed. When someone want to do something evil, no law will stop them.
The gunman in a fatal shooting spree in Santa Monica tried to legally buy a firearm in 2011 but was denied by the Justice Department, the city’s police chief announced Thursday evening at a news conference that revealed more details about the events that led up to the deadly rampage.
Investigators believe John Zawahri, who suffered from mental illness, built a semi-automatic rifle capable of firing .223-caliber ammunition using parts he bought from various sources around the country, Santa Monica Police Sgt. Richard Lewis said.
Officials would not say why Zawahri's quest to obtain a firearm two years ago was halted. Despite the rejection, Zawahri was able to obtain "an array" of high-capacity magazines that he used in a homemade weapon.
“We know that his was a troubled life and that he experienced mental health challenges,” Seabrooks said at a 7 p.m. news conference.
“We believe that his mental health challenges likely played a role in his decisions to shoot and kill both his father and his brother, to set fire to the family home and to go on a 13-minute shooting spree spanning roughly 1 ½ miles and which left five innocent people dead and three people injured.”
The Santa Monica police chief said components of the shooter’s rifle were legal to own, but the weapon he created was not.
The modifications Zawahri made to a lower receiver created an illegal AR-15-type rifle, Seabrooks said. Lewis said the lower receiver does not have a serial number.