Are credit card companies financing US mass shootings?
Many of the gunmen who carried out mass shootings in the United States over the past decade used credit cards to buy their high-powered weapons, a New York Times investigation revealed Monday.
The newspaper found that in at least eight of the past decade’s 13 mass shootings that killed 10 or more people, the perpetrators used credit to fund their attacks. In some cases, the perpetrators used credit to buy weapons they could not otherwise have afforded.
More than 200 people were killed in those eight shootings.
Read more: 8 facts about gun control in the US
‘Plenty of red flags’
“There were plenty of red flags, if only someone were able to look for them, law enforcement experts say,” the newspaper reported.
The New York Times investigation found that Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people and wounded 53 more at a nightclub in Orlando in 2016, opened six new credit-card accounts in the eight months before the carnage.
In the twelve days leading to the attack, Mateen splurged more than $26,000 (€23,000) on high-end arms and ammunition and a $7,500 ring for his wife. Mateen’s average monthly spending before his buying spree, on his only card, was $1,500.
Mateen also googled phrases like “Credit card reports all three bureaus,” “FBI,” and “Why banks stop your purchases” just days before the massacre.
“He needn’t have worried. None of the banks, credit-card network operators or payment processors alerted law enforcement officials about the purchases he thought were so suspicious,” the New York Times said.
Banks and credit-card companies have so far maintained that it is not their responsibility to create systems to track gun purchases.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Borderline Bar Grill, Thousand Oaks
In November 2018, a 28-year-old former Marine attacked a country dance bar outside Los Angeles, killing 12 people and wounding 10 others. The bar was holding a “College Night” and was packed with a young crowd. The gunman was found dead inside the bar, apparently he killed himself.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh
Eleven worshipers were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018 while attending a baby naming ceremony. Six others were injured, including four police officers. The gunman is currently facing 29 criminal counts and could receive the death penalty. Police said he told officers that Jews were committing genocide and that he wanted them all to die.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Parkland, Florida
A 19-year-old former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida killed 17 of his fellow classmates in February 2018. For the first time in the US, survivors of a mass shooting came together to demand immediate action on gun control. The students founded March for our Lives, a nationwide student mass protest movement.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs
A grudge against his in-laws led a 26-year-old man to attack a church in the small, tight-knit community of Sutherland Springs, Texas in November 2017. The shooter killed 26 people between the ages of 18 months and 72 years. The mass shooting prompted President Donald Trump to focus the issue of gun violence on mental health and away from gun ownership.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Route 91 Harvest Festival, Las Vegas
In the deadliest mass shooting in US history, concertgoers were targeted at a country music festival in Las Vegas in October 2017. The shooter, a 64-year-old man with no criminal record, attacked from a room in the nearby Mandalay Hotel, killing 59 people and wounding more than 400. Authorities found 23 guns in the shooter’s room.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Pulse nightclub, Orlando
An Afghan-American with a deep hatred for homosexuals attacked a gay nightclub in the city of Orlando, Florida in June 2016. Using an AR-15 rifle, the gunman stormed the darkened hall and killed 50 partygoers. The shooting was condemned worldwide and brought attention to hate crimes against the gay community.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown
The December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut rocked the nation in its brutality. It was the first time children under the age of 8 had been directly targeted, with 20 of them dying. Mourning parents flew to Washington, DC to support President Barack Obama’s background checks legislation. The law ultimately wasn’t approved, despite an emotional national debate.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Century 16 Theater, Aurora
In July 2012, a gunman opened fire during a movie screening in Aurora, Colorado, causing chaos and confusion. In the aftermath, 14 people were killed and 50 were wounded. The assailant attacked moviegoers as they were watching the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg
A student went on a shooting spree in a dorm and a class hall at Virginia Tech University campus in April 2007, leaving 32 people dead. The shooting turned the nation’s attention to the National Rifle Association (NRA), the most powerful lobby group, which has fought to stop gun control laws.
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Deadly mass shootings in the US
Columbine High School, Littleton
The 1999 assault in Littleton, Colorado, was the first school shooting to shock the nation. Two disgruntled students walked into their high school and opened fire with automatic weapons, killing 13 people. The attack would later become the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine, that examined the causes of gun violence in the US.
Article source: http://www.dw.com/en/are-credit-card-companies-financing-us-mass-shootings/a-46855661?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf