It has been found that some of the deadliest shooting sprees in US history featured guns either imported from Europe or manufactured under European licenses in the United States, Deutsche Welle reported.
The US imports about a third of its firearms, most of which are made by companies headquartered in Europe, according to data from Small Arms Analytics, a research consultancy focusing on the business and economics of the global small arms and ammunition markets.
The gunman who massacred 28 people in a Connecticut schoolhouse in 2012 toted firearms made by Sig Sauer and Austria’s Glock Company.
A German Walther and an Austrian Glock gun were instrumental in the June 2007 shooting deaths of 33 people at Virginia Tech University and Italian-made Berettas were used in the April 2009 shooting at an immigration services center in Binghamton, New York that killed 14 people.
European gun-manufacturers doubled their exports into the US civilian market between 2010 and 2016, according to US government data.
In 2010, European-made guns accounted for two million of the estimated eight million US civilian gun market.
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Six years later, European firearms accounted for four million out of an estimated 16 million-strong US civilian gun market.
Just like their US counterparts, European gun-makers happen to be major donors to the powerful US gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA).
