The church shootings in Texas has rekindled the gun control argument. Democrats saying it's time for much stricter control while Republicans are quick to point out the shooter was taken out by gun wielding good samaritans. One thing we can all agree on....the U.S Air Force dropped the ball.
The U.S. Air Force says the Texas church shooter's name was never put into the FBI’s National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) database after he was court-martialed for domestic violence. Had that happened as it was supposed to, shooter Devin Patrick Kelley would never have been allowed to buy a weapon.
What exactly had Kelley done? He was convicted of assaulting his ex-wife and fracturing the skull of his baby stepson. In the end, he served a 12-month sentence and was given a Bad Conduct Discharge from the military. The way the system is supposed to work is that conviction would have been included in the NCIC database.
Under the 1996 Lautenberg Amendment, which bars anyone convicted of domestic violence — even misdemeanors — from getting access to gun, transmitting that information would have made him ineligible to own firearms. In the wake of the revelation, Air Force officials say they’re launching an investigation into the handling of Kelley's criminal records – as well as other cases