Question of the Day: Texas Terrorist Should Have Been Denied Guns But…

Yesterday NPR broke a story about the Texas terrorist who killed 26 people in a small town Baptist Church with an Ruger ARR-556 rifle and 450 rounds of ammunition. Apparently he had been convicted of domestic abuse and served one year in prison before being discharged from the US Air Force with a bad conduct discharge. According to the report these two issues should have prevented Devin Patrick Kelley from purchasing the gun he used in the murders. Except for one problem: the Air Force didn’t add Mr. Kelley to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Those on this list are prohibited from purchasing firearms.

NPR this morning was adamant that if Mr. Kelley had been added to the list he couldn’t have purchased the gun.

So my question: Is that true? Couldn’t Mr. Kelley have purchased his armaments at a gun show (the nefarious gun show loop hole) or from a private party without any checks against the National Instant Criminal Background Check System?

editor’s note 11/8/2017: Today NPR carried a story stating that Mr. Kelley could have acquired his guns via gun shows and private purchases if he had been denied guns from licensed dealers via the FBI database.

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