The family of three victims killed in the Texas church attack are suing the FFL, where the killer passed a background check to acquire his rifle.
The problem with the suit is that the killer was able to pass a background check because the Air Force failed to report his conviction to the National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS). Seen in this light, the suit seeks to hold the FFL responsible for the mistakes made by bureaucrats within the armed forces.
Moreover, the suit overlooks the fact that the FFL does not do the background check. Rather, the check is performed by the FBI. Review staff within the FBI look over the criminal history of a would-be gun buyer and either allow the purchase to go forward or deny the would-be buyer.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the Ward and Lookingbill family filed their suit against Academy Sports & Outdoors, where the killer passed a federal background check. “Joann Ward and her daughters Emily Garcia and Brooke Ward were killed Nov. 5. Her 5-year-old stepson Ryland Ward was shot five times and remains in a San Antonio hospital.”
The suit seeks $25 million in damages.
The suit claims the FFL should not have sold the killer a rifle because he used an out-of-state address on the background check form. However, it is perfectly legal to buy long guns across state lines. There is no federal residency requirement for rifle sales.
National Shooting Sports Foundation senor vice president Larry Keane responded to the suit by tweeting:
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.