Posted on Dec 12, 2018
Air Force Missed 6 Chances to Stop Gunman in Texas Church Shooting From Buying Weapons, U.S. Says...
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The United States Air Force missed six opportunities to alert law enforcement authorities about an airman’s history of domestic abuse that would have stopped him from legally buying firearms that he used to kill 26 people in a Texas church in 2017, according to a government report released this week.
The 131-page report, by the inspector general’s office of the Department of Defense, found that the airman, Devin P. Kelley, had been convicted of domestic violence by an Air Force general court-martial but that his fingerprints and the final disposition of the case were never forwarded to the F.B.I. as policies required.
Those oversights allowed him to pass mandated background checks and to buy four firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer. Mr. Kelley used three of those weapons when he opened fire on the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., on Nov. 5, 2017, according to the report, which was dated Thursday. The shooting left 26 people dead and 22 others wounded.
The 131-page report, by the inspector general’s office of the Department of Defense, found that the airman, Devin P. Kelley, had been convicted of domestic violence by an Air Force general court-martial but that his fingerprints and the final disposition of the case were never forwarded to the F.B.I. as policies required.
Those oversights allowed him to pass mandated background checks and to buy four firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer. Mr. Kelley used three of those weapons when he opened fire on the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., on Nov. 5, 2017, according to the report, which was dated Thursday. The shooting left 26 people dead and 22 others wounded.
Air Force Missed 6 Chances to Stop Gunman in Texas Church Shooting From Buying Weapons, U.S. Says...
Posted from nytimes.com
Murder
Domestic Violence
Court Martial
Firearms and Guns
Weapons
Posted >1 y ago
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SMSgt Thor Merich
Nope. It’s a DOD wide issue. DOD didn’t have the assets or the priorities in place to prevent this. It’s basically a record keeping/data entry issue. Civilian police departments have employees whose sole purpose is to update and maintain the records. DOD expects the investigators to also handle the records tracking. They are overworked and understaffed. Supposedly the AF has addressed the issue, but I have not seen any real changes yet.
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SPC Gary Welch
SMSgt Thor Merich I see what your saying I hope they fix the system so this stuff needs to stop
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How difficult would it be to add a script to the forms, that would, upon saving and closing, ask "Fwd to F.B.I."
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