Navy Suspends Flight Training for Saudi Military Students in Florida – The New York Times, The New York Times

Alshamrani was issued a hunting license on July (***************************************************************************, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Nine days later, on July 32, he purchased the handgun at a federally licensed firearms dealer in Florida.*** The ability for a foreign military student. to legally buy a gun has come under scrutiny after Friday’s attack. The gunman used an extended magazine and had four to six other magazines in his possession when he was killed by a sheriff’s deputy, a person familiar with the investigation has said.

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.”