When reports and details of the mass shooting reached Washington, D.C., the U.S. Senate buildings were some of those that were ironically locked down.

Another mass shooting just within months of previous other gun related tragedies, more people suffering and hurt, as of this writing, what is known is that at the very least 13 individuals were killed and much more were wounded after a shooter (or multiple shooters) opened fire at the historic Washington Navy Yard on Monday.

Details remain sketchy, but The Washington Post reported that for now, the FBI has identified one of the deceased as, Aaron Alexis, 34, of Fort Worth, Texas, as the suspected culprit in the shooting incident, although police were uncertain if he acted alone. Early reports said Mr. Alexis was an ex naval reservist as well as a military contractor. Sources told the Post he had used an assault rifle along with a pistol, and possibly other types of firearms.
Questions still linger on where he had acquired these firearms and if he went through the current background checking process set by the federal government to keep guns away from individuals like this. Just when, five months ago, a mile and a half away on the U.S. Capitol, the U.S. Senate defeated a compromise proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases, despite vast public support for the proposal.

The gun control proposals had followed the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in December, in which a mentally unstable gunman killed 20 children and six educators prior to taking his own life. The Senate proposal would’ve required criminal background checks for sales at gun shows and the Internet, closing glaring loopholes in current law.

Source: The Washington Post