Prague Gunman: No Criminal Record - Latest News & Updates

The Czech Republic is reeling from the worst mass shooting in its history, highlighting the country's lax gun legislation.

Czech politicians often boast that their country is one of the safest in the world from gun violence. However, the worst mass killing in the nation's history this week, along with other shootings over the last decade, suggest that this might not be entirely true.

At the Faculty of Arts department at Charles University, where 14 people were killed and dozens wounded, the shooter was described as an excellent student by the police. However, the 24-year-old also had a proclivity for firearms, with a license to own eight guns, including two long guns.

Authorities stated that the lone assailant had no criminal record, which meant that he did not attract the attention of authorities. Interior Minister Vit Rakusan mentioned that this kind of attack is really hard to prevent.

The shooter, who killed himself as police closed in, is believed to have been Czech. Police chief Tomas Vondrasek stated that officers found an arsenal of weapons with a lot of ammunition that the suspect had to carry unnoticed to the university building before opening fire.

The Czech Republic's gun legislation is considered liberal in Europe, especially after replacing restrictions under the totalitarian communist regime that was ousted in the 1989 Velvet Revolution. In 2021, the Parliament amended the Constitution's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms to give people a right to defend themselves or others with a gun. This move was adopted after more than 100,000 people signed a petition in support.

In the country of 10.9 million, 314,000 people had a gun license by the end of last year and owned almost a million various weapons. To get a license, people need to be a Czech resident, be older than 21, be in good health, mentally responsible, reliable, and without a criminal record. Written and practical tests, including shooting at a target, are also part of the procedure.

However, once a person meets all the requirements, the authorities who keep the records don't need to inform police about the numbers of guns people have. A senior Prague police officer mentioned that it will be necessary to figure out if it's a result of a flaw in the system or human error.

The country's gun law might be tightened soon, independently of what happened on Thursday. The Parliament has been debating an amendment to the gun and ammunition law that makes it possible for authorities to seize a weapon from private owners for preventive reasons. It includes a requirement for businesses to report to police suspicious purchases of guns and ammunition and gives doctors access to databases to find out if their patients are gun owners.

Rakusan, the interior minister, called it "a sad paradox" but refrained from suggesting the proposed changes would have prevented Thursday's killing. The police said the Charles University assailant is suspected in a separate case of killing a father and his 2-month-old daughter on the eastern edge of Prague on Dec. 15. He is also believed to have killed his own father before arriving at the university.

Thursday's mass killing was not the Czech Republic's only such shooting over the past decade. A man opened fire during lunchtime in a restaurant in the southeastern town of Uhersky Brod in 2015, killing eight before he fatally shot himself. Four years later, another gunman fatally shot six people and wounded three others at a hospital in the eastern city of Ostrava before killing himself.