Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, introduced a bill Tuesday to “incentivize” federal agencies to report criminal convictions to ensure the wrong people cannot purchase guns.
Cornyn’s bill comes in response to the deadly church shooting that left 26 dead in Texas. The shooter, Devin Patrick Kelley, was able to purchase a gun despite a 2014 domestic assault conviction. The Air Force said they erroneously failed to report the conviction.
“This critically important information from the suspect’s criminal history was not uploaded into the relevant background check databases, even though a federal law clearly requires that it be done,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn said Congress can take actions to make federal agencies properly report convictions and the number of records actually reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is “staggeringly low.”
Cornyn said the reporting problems must be rectified.
“Because there was no record of it, he was able to lie his way into getting these firearms,” Cornyn said. “This is very clearly a problem, and the Air Force has now admitted that Kelley’s conviction should have barred him from ever purchasing or possessing firearms.”
