Lax gun laws allowed Texas hostage taker Malik Faisal Akram to get a gun, suggests US President Joe Biden

The British man who took four hostages at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas on January 15 may have gotten a gun right after landing in the US.

The man, 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram, stormed the synagogue in the city of Colleyville on the morning of January 15 armed with a handgun, and held four people, including rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, hostage for more than 10 hours.

While Akram let one hostage go initially, he was shot dead when a SWAT team stormed the building to free the remaining three hostages.

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Following the harrowing incident, US President Joe Biden suggested that the lax gun laws in America might be to blame for Akram’s ability to acquire a weapon at short notice. While US authorities investigating the incident are still in the process of uncovering the facts, it is believed that Akram acquired the firearm “on the street” soon after landing in the US.

Commenting on this possibility, President Biden said, “The idea of background checks are critical. But you can’t stop something like this if someone is on the street buying something from somebody else on the street. Except that there’s too—there’s so many guns that have been sold of late; it’s just ridiculous.”

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While the facts about how Akram acquired the weapon and how long he had it is unknown as of now, it’s quite possible that Akram acquired the weapon in Texas itself, which has some of the loosest gun laws in the US. Last year, Texas passed a law allowing people to own a handgun without a licence or training, which could have helped Akram get his hands on the weapon.

Akram’s brother Gulbar also expressed his astonishment at his brother’s ability to get a gun, telling the English media, “He’s known to police, got a criminal record. How was he allowed to get a visa and acquire a gun?”

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With gun violence spiralling out of control in the US, the Biden administration is looking to take steps to try and curb the growing violence.

“And it’s because of the failure of us to focus as hard as we should and as consistent as we should on gun purchases, gun sales, ghost guns, and a whole range of things that I’m trying to do,” said President Biden, reiterating his commitment to tightening gun laws in the US.