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Navy Yard Shooting Deemed ‘Preventable,’ but Not for the Fashionable Reasons

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Politico records that a report on the Navy Yard shooting has called it “preventable”:

Supervisors of the gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last year noticed his erratic behavior well before the shooting but did not reveal any problems to the government, a Navy investigation has found.

“Had this information been reported, properly adjudicated and acted upon, [Aaron] Alexis’s authorization to access secure facilities and information would have been revoked,” the report said — and the shooting might have been prevented.

An official Navy investigation unveiled Tuesday by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other top Pentagon officials blamed IT contractor Hewlett-Packard and its subcontractor, The Experts, for deciding not to take any action dealing with Alexis’s deteriorating “emotional, mental or personality condition, even when they had concerns that Alexis may cause harm to others…”

You will note what the report very clearly does not say, which is that anything could have been done to prevent Alexis from obtaining firearms or that a slightly different combination of gun-control laws would have stopped him from shooting up the base. Thus does it stand in stark opposition to the rhetoric of the usual suspects, who immediately attempted to twist the incident into a justification for more authoritarian laws, and of President Obama himself, who gave an extraordinarily political, mawkish, and fact-free speech at the memorial service…

Read more from this story HERE.

Chilling Video of Killer Aaron Alexis inside Navy Yard Released by FBI

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Photo Credit: FBI

Photo Credit: FBI

On Sept. 25, nine days after shooter Aaron Alexis killed 12 people and wounded four more inside the Washington Navy Yard, the FBI released unbelievable video surveillance footage of Alexis inside the Navy Yard stalking his victims.

According to the FBI, “Alexis had legitimate access to the Navy Yard as a result of his work as a contractor and he utilized a valid pass to gain entry to Building #197.”

Shortly after his arrival in the building and over the course of approximately one hour, Alexis used the Remington 870 shotgun and a Beretta handgun he obtained during the course of his shooting to kill 12 victims and wound four surviving victims before he was shot and killed by law enforcement officers. Investigation to date has determined that Alexis acted alone.

Read more from this story HERE.

New York Times Corrects AR-15 Navy Yard Story, Still Misses the Mark

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Photo Credit: Washington Times

Photo Credit: Washington Times

After two days, the New York Times finally corrected its story claiming Virginia state law blocked Aaron Alexis from buying an AR-15 rifle before his rampage at the Navy Yard. The article, however, still is not accurate.

On Tuesday, I wrote that the Times was part of the widespread effort in the liberal media to tie the AR-15 rifle to the mass murder or 12 innocent people in Washington on Monday.

The headline was — and is — “State Law Stopped Gunman From Buying Rifle, Officials Say.”

It said that the gunman was stopped from buying an AR-15 “because state law there prohibits the sale of such weapons to out-of-state buyers, according to two senior law enforcement officials.”

In fact, there is no residency requirement in federal or state law for purchase of shotguns or rifles.

Read more from this story HERE.

University of Kansas Suspends Controversial Journalism Professor over Vile Tweets Calling for the Murder of NRA Members’ Children

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A journalism professor who boasts online about his love of free speech has been placed on administrative leave by the University of Kansas over controversial remarks he posted on Twitter calling for the murder of the children of members of the National Rifle Association.

The tweets were in response to Monday’s deadly Naval Yard shooting, in which 12 people were killed.

In the post, Associate Professor David Guth blames the fatal attack on the NRA, and goes on to say that next time there’s a mass-shooting that he hopes the victims are the children of NRA members.

He ends his 140-charecter rant with ‘shame on you. May God damn you.’

On Thursday, the university issued a statement condemning Guth’s offensive tweet.

Photo Credit: Twitter

Photo Credit: Twitter

Read more from this story HERE.

Feinstein: Restrict 2nd Amendment Rights after Navy Yard Shooting

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is renewing her call for new gun-control laws because of Monday’s deadly Navy Yard shooting.

“When will enough be enough?” Feinstein said in a statement Monday evening.

“Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country,” she said. “We must do more to stop this endless loss of life.”

The FBI confirmed Monday afternoon that 34-year-old Aaron Alexis is the suspect in Monday’s massacre at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Alexis died at the scene…

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Navy Yard: Swat Team ‘Stood Down’ at Mass Shooting Scene

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Picture - Navy Yard ShootingOne of the first teams of heavily armed police to respond to Monday’s shooting in Washington DC was ordered to stand down by superiors, the BBC can reveal.

A tactical response team of the Capitol Police, a force that guards the US Capitol complex, was told to leave the scene by a supervisor instead of aiding municipal officers.

The Capitol Police department has launched a review into the matter.

Aaron Alexis, 34, killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard…

Capitol Police Officer Jim Konczos, who leads the officers’ union, said the Cert police train for what are known as active shooter situations and are expert marksmen.

“Odds are it might have had a different outcome,” he said of Monday’s shooting and the decision to order the Cert unit to stand down. “It probably could have been neutralised.”

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Marines Had Weapons, But No Ammo During Navy Yard Shooting (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube

Photo Credit: YouTube

So, Homeland Security gets a couple billion rounds of ammunition, but the military doesn’t get any. That’s disturbing.

On Monday, a crazed gunman killed 12 innocent people, and injured over a dozen more, in a Washington, D.C. Navy Shipyard. It didn’t matter that it occurred on a military installation, because in 1993 Bill Clinton decreed that all U.S. military bases be “gun free zones”; thus denying the victims their 2nd Amendment right to defend themselves. But, it didn’t help those who did manage to be carrying a gun at the military base on Monday, because, apparently, it’s an ammunition-free zone, as well.

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Officials: Navy Yard Shooter Carved Odd Messages into his Gun Before Carnage

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Photo Credit: Washington Post

Photo Credit: Washington Post

Aaron Alexis carved bizarre phrases on the stock of his shotgun before he killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, and investigators are hoping the words provide clues to what prompted the shooting, two law enforcement officials said.

The phrases were “Better off this way” and “My ELF weapon,” according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The officials cautioned they do not yet know what, if anything, Alexis meant in the etchings.

ELF generally stands for “extremely low frequency” and can refer to weather or communications efforts, among other things.

Alexis, who was battling mental health issues, told police in Rhode Island in August that he was hearing voices of three people who had been sent to follow him and keep him awake and were using “some sort of microwave machine” to send vibrations into his body, preventing him from falling asleep, according to police reports.

Read more from this story HERE.

Aaron Alexis’s Mom “Glad” That “He Can No Longer Do Harm”

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The mother of Aaron Alexis, the gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard, said today that her “heart is broken,” but she is “glad” that he can no longer do harm to anyone. Alexis’ mother, Cathleen Alexis, read a brief statement to reporters in response to her son’s murderous rampage Monday at the Navy Yard, saying she had no idea why he would do such a thing.

“Our son Aaron Alexis has murdered 12 people and wounded several others,” she said in the statement. “His actions have had a profound and everlasting effect on the families of the victims. I don’t know why he did what he did and I’ll never be able to ask him why.” “Aaron is now in a place where he can no longer do harm to anyone and for that I am glad.

To the families of the victims I am so, so very sorry that this happened,” she said. “My heart is broken.” Alexis’ family has spoken only briefly about their son since the shooting on Monday morning, in which Alexis entered the Navy base where he was set to begin an IT contracting job and opened fire on employees.

Twelve individuals were killed before law enforcement officers were able to shoot and kill Alexis.

On Tuesday, Alexis’s stepfather told the Daily Mail that Alexis was walking out of the World Trade Center subway stop when the first tower collapsed, and that he stayed to help pull bodies from the rubble.

Read more from this story HERE.

Navy Yard Dropped Its Guard, Pentagon Inspector General Says

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Photo Credit: Evan Vucci

Photo Credit: Evan Vucci

A soon-to-be-released government audit (Now public, see here) says the Navy, in an attempt to reduce costs, let down its guard to risks posed by outside contractors at the Washington Navy Yard and other facilities, a federal official with access to the report tells TIME.

The Navy “did not effectively mitigate access-control risks associated with contractor-installation access” at Navy Yard and other Navy installations, the report by the Department of Defense Inspector General’s office says. Parts of the audit were read to TIME by a federal official with access to the document.

The risks resulted from an attempt by Navy officials “to reduce access-control costs,” the report finds.

The audit comes as questions are emerging about how the alleged perpetrator, or perpetrators, of the attack at Navy Yard in Washington on Monday gained access to the facility. At least 13 people are dead in the attack, including the alleged attacker, Aaron Alexis.

Read more from this story HERE.