Colorado Attorney General Says US ‘Needs A National Background Check Law’ Following Shooting

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said Tuesday the country “needs a national background check law” after authorities said 10 died in a grocery store shooting.

“We need a national background check law, because otherwise people can go to surrounding states and get a weapon without having to go through a background check which makes sense,” Weiser said on “CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto.”

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A shooting at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder left a police officer and nine people dead, Boulder authorities said, according to The New York Times. Police said that following the shooting, they placed a suspect in custody and authorities said the suspect had been injured.

“We in Colorado have a background check law. But if people go to surrounding states, they can get a weapon without having a background check,” Weiser said.

“That is a common sense measure that’s supported by overwhelming majorities. The fact that we didn’t get such a law after prior mass shootings is hard to understand. We need a federal law,” Weiser said. “I know that our members of Congress from Colorado have run on this issue, are committed to this issue.”

Boulder Police Chief Maris Harold identified 21-year-old Ahmad Alissa from Arvada, Colorado, as the alleged shooter, according to The New York Post. The suspect reportedly used a rifle.

Alissa was charged with 10 first degree murder counts, but a motive has not been disclosed, Fox News reported.

Police haven’t issued concrete information about the suspect’s weapon, nor how the circumstances of how suspect bought the weapon, The Washington Post reported.

Boulder put an assault-style and large-capacity magazine ban into effect three years ago after the Parkland shooting in Florida, according to another NYT report. A Colorado district court judge’s March ruling said the bans can’t be carried out by the city.