Written by Michael Thervil
It seems as if America is not the only country tackling the social issue of mass shootings. Like America, many people in Prague are wondering what was going on in the head of mass shooter David Kozák. In America even though there are many laws on the books when it comes to purchasing a firearm – the firearm purchasing laws in Prague are less strenuous. But the difference lies in the fact that Prague has nowhere near the amount of mass shootings that America has had. This is not to say that they haven’t had their fair share of massacres because they have. But they just haven’t had it in the volume that America has.
Gun crimes are a rare occurrence in the Czech Republic. The last mass shooting that occurred in Prague was at Uhersky Brod, Prague in 2015 when 6 people were shot and killed and ended with the shooter committing suicide. But it would be until this year that 10 people would be killed and another 25 victims would be wounded by yet another mass shooting. This year’s mass shooting in Prague was executed by a 24-year-old David Kozák who was a academically gifted History Major that committed suicide after his shooting spree at the Faculty of Philosophy building at Charles University at 3pm. Currently, David Kozák has no link to terrorist groups or organizations and the mass shooting in question doesn’t seem to indicate that there is any ideological, religious or ethnic motivations for his actions. Could there be a link between what he was studying as a history major and the mass shooting he executed? Only time could possibly tell.
It was reported that on his Telegram feed he “always wanted to kill”. Why? Currently the answer to that question is unknown. David Kozák is also suspected of killing his father right before he executed his attack at Charles University. His father’s body was found at roughly 12:45pm. What’s even more devastating for many people within Prague is that David Kozák is again suspected of killing a 32-year-old man and a newborn baby near the Czech capital a week before all of this took place.
In the Czech Republic, in order for someone to purchase a firearm they only have to take a firearm proficiency test, medical exam and be free of a criminal conviction.
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