That synagogue attacker …

Eleven hours of terror in a Texas synagogue ended mercifully this past weekend when the three remaining hostages escaped without injury. That was due in large measure to the smart thinking and quick actions of the synagogue’s rabbi, who engineered the flight from a gunman. The attack by an armed British citizen is being investigated as an act of terrorism. Among the troubling questions that must be answered is how did Malik Faisal Akram—who reportedly had a criminal record and a history of mental illness and was known to British intelligence—even manage to get into the United States? And how did he get a gun?

Saturday’s events at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, between Dallas and Fort Worth, were another horrifying example of the antisemitism that continues to haunt the world.

Mr. Akram has been known to security officials in Britain. The BBC reported that he had been investigated in 2020 by Britain’s counterintelligence and security agency and placed on a watch list as a “subject of interest” before it was concluded that he no longer posed a threat. According to his brother, Mr. Akram had a well-known history of mental health problems and a criminal record. “How was he allowed to get a visa and acquire a gun?” asked the brother.

Good question. What were the circumstances of Mr. Akram’s entry through New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Dec. 29; was there a human mistake or a failure in the system that needs to addressed? It will be important for authorities to determine whether Mr. Akram acted alone. That it was seemingly so easy for him to acquire a gun—reportedly buying it off the street—underscores once again the folly of American gun laws.