About students from Saudi Arabia have been grounded at three Florida bases in the wake of a shooting at a Pensacola Navy base that left three people dead.
The “safety stand-down” was issued pending the results of an FBI investigation into a shooting on Friday that leftthree young sailorsdead and eight other people wounded. Several lawmakers, including Senator Rick Scott of Florida and Representative Matt Gaetz, whose congressional district includes Pensacola, have called for a review of foreign military programs and their vetting procedures.
The Navy said all Saudi students would be grounded at Pensacola, as well as at the Naval Air Station Whiting Field near Milton, Fla., and Naval Air Station Mayport in Jacksonville.
Those who travel to the United States on a nonimmigrant visa, as the gunman did, are prohibited under federal law from having a weapon or ammunition. But the law also lists several exceptions, including one for those holding a valid hunting license.
Alshamrani may have qualified to legally buy a gun under other exceptions as well, according to the FBI’s Jacksonville field office, which is leading the investigation. Other exceptions are included in the law for accredited representatives of foreign governments, distinguished foreign visitors designated by the State Department, or foreign law enforcement officers of a friendly government entering the United States on official business.Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, called the exceptions a “loophole” in federal gun laws that should be closed. “I’m a big supporter of the Second Amendment, but the Second Amendment applies so that we the American people can keep and bear arms,” Mr. DeSantis, a former Navy prosecutor, said at a Sunday news conference in Pensacola. “But it does not apply to Saudi Arabians.” On Tuesday, Thomas B. Modly, the acting Navy Secretary, (awarded posthumous “wings of gold”) ******************************** to the three Pensacola victims, proclaiming Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson a naval aviator and Airman Mohammed Haitham and Airman Apprentice Cameron Walters naval aircrewmen. Five of the injured had been sent home from the hospital by Monday, with the three remaining patients in stable condition. Mr. Lewis said most hunters prefer a rifle that can do more damage and has a longer range, even if it means firing at a slower rate. ****************** (A Glock) is more purchased for self-defense, for creating harm to someone else or for target shooters, ”Mr. Lewis said, “especially with an extended clip.” Patricia Mazzei reported from Miami, and Eric Schmitt from Washington. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs contributed reporting from New York and Frances Robles from Pensacola, Fla. **************************** (**************************************************************************************
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