Family tried to block new gun license received just month before man kills eight

The family of the gunman who shot eight people dead in an apparent random attack on a pub in Uherský Brod on Tuesday tried to prevent him getting a new gun license, Czech Television reported on Thursday. The killer, who took his own life in the incident, had been granted a new gun permit just last month. According to the mayor of Uherský Brod, Patrik Kunčar, the man’s brother-in-law said the family had called on his general practitioner not to give him the necessary medical certificate in view of his mental instability. iDnes.cz reported that after the gun license had been granted (but not collected) the family also contacted the police, who discussed the man with his GP and a psychiatrist. They then issued him with a summons for a second medical test, which he picked up last Friday. A police spokesperson said its officers had followed the only possible procedure in the matter.