Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Over 30 people were killed Thursday during a shooting spree that included an attack on a northeastern Thailand childcare center despite Thailand’s “restrictive” gun controls, which include a ban on semiautomatic rifles.
Breitbart News reported the gunman was a former Thailand police officer who was allegedly fired from the force last year after failing a drugs test, and was due in court Friday.
The Associated Press noted 22 children and two adults were killed inside the childcare center, then the attacker got into his vehicle and continued shooting other people as he fled.
A witness to the attack indicating “they had locked the door to the building when they saw the suspect approaching with a handgun, but that he shot through it.”
In the end, CNN observed the 34-year-old attacker took “killed his wife and his stepson before taking his own life.”
The University of Sydney’s GunPolicy.org pointed out Thailand has “restrictive” gun controls which include a ban on semiautomatic rifles, a licensing requirement for handgun and ammo purchases/possession, and in-depth background checks on gun/ammo licensing issuance.
The background check for a gun/ammo license “considers personal conduct, living condition, income and criminal records.” The license application can be denied if an “apprehended likelihood of family violence exists.”
A Thailand gun license is linked to a specific gun and the license holder is only allowed that one gun with use of that license.
Moreover, every privately held firearm in Thailand must be registered with the government and private gun sales are illegal.
On May 24, 2022, the White House released a statement regarding the Uvalde school shooting, in which President Biden said: “I just got off my trip from Asia, meeting with Asian leaders, and I learned of this while I was on the aircraft. And what struck me on that 17-hour flight — what struck me was these kinds of mass shootings rarely happen anywhere else in the world.”