The owner of the gun store where the Orlando terrorist bought his murder weapons said he does not feel culpable for the worst massacre in US history.

Ed Henson of St Lucie Shooting Center insists Omar Mateen passed all the background checks when he came in last week.

In two separate visits, the 29-year-old bought a .223 caliber AR-type rifle and a 9mm semiautomatic pistol.

Days later, he killed 49 people in Pulse nightclub and wounded dozens more.

'It's horrible but I don't make the laws. I abide by them,' Henson, a retired New York police officer, told reporters in a statement.

'My heartfelt condolences for the family and victims and I can't imagine the horror they face.

'I did everything by the book. I'm not going to be made into a villain.'

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Conscience clear: Ed Henson said that Mateen — who he refused to refer to by name, instead calling him 'an evil person' — legally bought the handgun and the long gun approximately a week apart

The ATF confirmed that Madeen obtained his guns at the St. Lucie Shooting Center a few days before Sunday morning's atrocity

He added: 'We did nothing wrong.'

The St. Lucie Shooting Center, on an industrial estate outside Port St. Lucie, Florida, where Madeen's family live, was closed Monday despite it boasting that it is open 7 days a week. A note was posted on the door saying it would open later in the day.

The ATF confirmed that Mateen obtained his guns at the center a few days before Sunday morning's atrocity in Orlando, 125 miles to the northwest. The center offers free range time for anyone who has just bought weapons there.

The company website says Henson had 20 years service with the NYPD and the New York Housing Police, 16 of which were as a detective.

The Statewide Firearm License discovered by Daily Mail Online in the killer's apartment (below left) expired last September. But the owner of the gun center, retired New York City cop Edward Henson, says that Mateen had an up-to-date license with him

Henson said that Mateen — who he refused to refer to by name, instead calling him 'an evil person' — legally bought the handgun and the long gun approximately a week apart.

'If he hadn't purchased them from us I am sure he would have got them from another local gun store,' added Henson, who is known locally as 'Big Ed.'.

'This man held multiple security licenses. He had an armed and an unarmed licence. He passed the background check that every single person who purchases a firearm in the state of Florida undergoes — Aa full background check, there is no such thing as an abbreviated background check.

He said if Mateen had not had a concealed carry permit he would have had to undergo a three-day cooling-off period to buy the handgun, although he could have bought the AR-15 on the same day

'He is familiar to me, vaguely,' said Henson. 'But I don't know him personally.

'He was evil, we happen to be the gun store he picked. And there is nothing else I can say.'

Henson said he voluntarily closed the store on Monday so ATF officers could carry out an inspection. He forcefully denied reports that ATF had shut him down.

He also said reports that Mateen had asked for body armor were false. He said his store has never sold body armor

The center was in the news in 2013 when a 22-year-old man went there to rent a handgun. As soon as the background check and a basic safety course was completed the man killed himself with a shot to the head.

There has been no suggestion that Mateen, a guard for giant security company G4S who worked at a condo complex in Palm City, Florida, bought the weapons illegally nor that the St. Lucie Shooting Center should have realized what he would use them for.

The Statewide Firearm License discovered by Daily Mail Online in the killer's apartment expired last September. But gun shop owner said Mateen had an up-to-date license with him when he bought the guns

The St. Lucie Shooting Center is owned by retired New York City cop Edward Henson. The company website says he had 20 years service with the NYPD and the New York Housing Police, 16 of which were as a detective

Henson said he voluntarily closed the store on Monday so ATF officers could carry out an inspection. He forcefully denied reports that ATF had shut him down

Shop owner Henson said that Mateen — who he refused to refer to by name, instead calling hi 'an evil person' — legally bought the handgun and the long gun approximately a week apart.

The Shooting Center was close Monday morning

'He had a concealed weapon permit and he worked as a security guard, so absolutely his purchase was legal,' John O'Neil, who owns a pawn shop in Port St. Lucie that sells gun shop told Daily Mail Online in an exclusive interview.

'I feel very sorry for Big Ed. He did nothing wrong. I know him well — I got my concealed permit through him,' added O'Neil, who says he has not contacted Henson since the Orlando massacre. 'I figured he would have enough people calling him,' he said.

O'Neil and other gun shop owners said the first thing they did once Madeen's name was made public was to check their records to make sure they were not the ones who supplied the weapons. All apart from Henson breathed a sigh of relief.

O'Neil said his company, Paramount Pawn & Jewelry, is sponsoring a two-day gun show at the Port St. Lucie Civic Center this coming weekend, and had no plans to cancel despite the massacre.

'I would tell people who say it is the wrong time to have a gun show that it is absolutely the right time,' he said.

'There is a heightened fear in the community. Just this morning I have sold eight guns.

'A woman who lives two doors down from Madeen's parents sent her husband in to buy another gun. She never owned one herself, although he did. But she just doesn't feel safe and wanted an extra weapon in the house.'

O'Neil said the weekend gun show is an ideal place to buy a gun because law enforcement officers will be on hand to give safety demonstrations — something that buyers would not get if they bought a weapon in a gun shop.

He said it is quite possible the show will be protested, but he would not bow to any pressure to put it off.



