Killing prompts gun-license debate

“Alphen mourns in the wake of bloodbath,” headlines De Volksrant. On 9 April, a 24-year-old man opened fire on shoppers at a mall in Alphen aan de Rijn, south of Amsterdam, killing six and wounding 17 before committing suicide. The killer was a member of a shooting club and had several gun licenses, but not for the automatic weapon used in the attack. “Are the Netherlands’ rules for shooting clubs and firearm licenses sufficiently strict?” wonders Trouw. The motive for the attack remains unknown. De Volkskrant reports that the killer “had a history of mental illness and was clearly suicidal,” but points out “that that the reasons for his act of cruelty may never be elucidated.”