Guns bill seeks better database
U. S. agencies not updating FBI files would be penalized
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators has joined forces on legislation to strengthen the FBI database of prohibited gun buyers after the Air Force failed to report the criminal history of the gunman who killed more than two dozen people at a Texas church.
Congress has taken no steps on guns in the weeks after deadly shootings in Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs, Texas. The bill, which has the backing of the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, would ensure that federal agencies, such as the Defense Department, and states accurately report relevant criminal information to the FBI.
The Air Force has acknowledged that the Texas shooter, Devin Kelley, should
have had his name and domesticviolence conviction submitted to the National Criminal Information Center database.
The bill would penalize federal agencies that fail to properly report required records and reward states that comply by providing them with federal grant preferences.
Cornyn said agencies and state governments have for years failed to forward legally required records without suffering consequences.
“Just one record that’s not properly reported can lead to tragedy, as the country saw last week in Sutherland Springs, Texas,” Cornyn said. “This bill aims to help fix what’s become a nationwide, systemic problem so we can better prevent criminals and domestic abusers from obtaining firearms.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D- Conn., a fierce proponent of gun restrictions, said much more needs to be done on the issue of gun violence but he believes the bill will help ensure that thousands of dange ro u s people are prevented from buying guns.
“It represents the strongest update to the background checks system in a decade and provides the foundation for more compromise in the future,” Murphy said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D- Conn., called the measure “a modest breakthrough” but said he hoped it could lead to other bipartisan work on gun safety.
“It may seem to many like a baby step,” he said, “but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and this one could well be important in breaking the ice of complicity that has paralyzed Congress.”
The measure, called the Fix NICS Act — NICS is the acronym for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System — is modest when compared with the demands of gun safety advocates, who have for years been pushing to expand background checks for gun buyers and to limit the purchase of assault- style weapons.
The bill would penalize agencies that fail to forward required information by prohibiting political appointees from receiving any bonus pay. The legislation also seeks to improve accountability by publicly reporting which agencies and states fail to provide the required records.
Anyone who buys a gun from a federally licensed dealer must pass a background check. People convicted in any court of domestic violence are prohibited from buying a gun, but the Air Force has acknowledged that it failed to tell the FBI about Kelley’s assault conviction for attacking his wife and cracking his infant stepson’s skull. That failure made it possible for Kelley, a former airman, to acquire weapons that federal law prohibited him from buying or possessing after his 2012 conviction. On Nov. 5, Kelley killed more than two dozen people in the Texas church.
The Army has also said it failed to alert the FBI to soldiers’ criminal history in a “significant amount” of cases.
Peter Ambler, executive director of an organization named for former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D- Ariz., said the bill was a step in the right direction. Giffords survived being shot in the head while meeting with constituents in a Tucson- area parking lot in 2011.
“It’s an important signal to states and federal agencies that Congress means business when it comes to ensuring a strong, effective background check system,” said Ambler, whose organization works to strengthen gun laws.
John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a Washington- based advocacy group, praised the measure as “an important first step” to improve the background check system.
A National Rifle Association official also applauded Cornyn’s effort, saying the bill would ensure the records of prohibited individuals are entered into the background check system while providing a relief valve for those wrongly included.
“The NRA will continue to support efforts to make the background check system instant, accurate and fair, while protecting the rights of law- abiding gun owners,” said Chris Cox, executive director of the group’s political and lobbying arm.
Although the gun debate is contentious in Congress, surveys show the majority of Americans — even those in households with guns — want to see gun safety laws passed.