Gun retailer broke law selling rifle to Sutherland Springs church killer

commodon

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A Texas sporting goods store broke the law when it sold an AR-15-style rifle and large-capacity magazine to a man who later committed a mass murder at a San Antonio-area church, federal prosecutors argued in a court filing.

Devin Patrick Kelley, who fatally shot himself as authorities chased him following the bloody massacre at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs in 2017, was ineligible to make the purchase because he used a Colorado driver’s license as identification, prosecutor Paul David Stern wrote.

Sale of that rifle would have been illegal in Colorado,” Stern wrote, referring to a Model 8500 Ruger AR-556 that authorities say Kelley bought from Academy Sports + Outdoors.

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Devin Patrick Kelley, who authorities say killed himself following a church massacre in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in November 2017, is seen in an undated photo. (Texas Department of Public Safety via AP)

In 2017, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state had denied Kelley a gun permit and he should not have been legally allowed to own a firearm, the BBC reported.

Now federal authorities are looking to add the Texas retailer as a possible third party in a lawsuit that relatives of those killed or wounded in the massacre have filed against the federal government. The plaintiffs argue that the U.S. Air Force neglected to add Kelley’s criminal data to a national database that might have blocked his weapons purchase, despite six opportunities to add the information.

Kelley, a former airman, had a background that included beating his wife and stepson, mistreating animals, escaping a mental health clinic and being court-martialed, the BBC reported.

From Gun retailer broke law selling rifle to Sutherland Springs church killer, feds allege
 
Uhh... If NICS came back with a proceed, thats on them, not the ffl. Proceed means proceed. Also, the Colorado dl thing is irrelevant. It's a rifle. If this guy was a shitbag and various parties failed to properly report his crimes to the relevant authorities, it's on them. The guy's murder spree is on him. Hes dead. Justice served.
 
Uhh... If NICS came back with a proceed, thats on them, not the ffl. Proceed means proceed. Also, the Colorado dl thing is irrelevant. It's a rifle. If this guy was a shitbag and various parties failed to properly report his crimes to the relevant authorities, it's on them. The guy's murder spree is on him. Hes dead. Justice served.
Not irrelevant, an FFL can only sell you a long gun if it is legal for you to own in your state of residence. If he (the scumbag) had other information to establish residency in Texas (lease agreement, utility bills, etc) then the sale would have been legal under federal law.
 
Uhh... If NICS came back with a proceed, thats on them, not the ffl. Proceed means proceed. Also, the Colorado dl thing is irrelevant. It's a rifle. If this guy was a shitbag and various parties failed to properly report his crimes to the relevant authorities, it's on them. The guy's murder spree is on him. Hes dead. Justice served.
You can't legally buy a rifle out of state if it's not legal in your home state.

Otherwise MA would be flooded with ARs from NH and elsewhere. The FFL messed up if they didn't have any documentation supporting TX residency.
 
Sale of that rifle would have been illegal in Colorado,” Stern wrote, referring to a Model 8500 Ruger AR-556 that authorities say Kelley bought from Academy Sports + Outdoors.

Wrong. Colorado has no AWB, only stupid shit like Boulder's attempt at it. Purchase of that rifle would have been completely legal by a non-PP.

Being a rifle and being legal in his state of residence (DL) there's nothing stopping an FFL from selling it to him provided the NICS check comes up proceed.
 
But in NH you can register to vote on election day with an of state drivers license.

That's not true. The license can only be used to show proof of age. You need proof of:
• 18 years of age or older on election day; • A United States citizen; and • Domiciled1[1] in the town or ward where the person seeks to vote
 
I think you’re going for “or open the downloaded zip file,” old man! ;)

When I received my first C&R FFL, they sent it in book form (1999). They sent ALL the same books/forms to C&Rs that they did for 01/07 FFLs back then.

Years later they sent out the book on CD. They no longer send anything with renewals to C&Rs.

If an FFL is too lazy to break the wraping on the book or CD, what makes you think they would DL the docs or even put Adobe Reader on their computer?

Yes, I DL those books to my computer and find the abilty to search a PDF quite an improvement over dead trees. But like Jack, I have all the old books as well for reference to prior laws (may have sunsetted but still relevant in shit-holes like MA).
 
That's not true. The license can only be used to show proof of age. You need proof of:
• 18 years of age or older on election day; • A United States citizen; and • Domiciled1[1] in the town or ward where the person seeks to vote

What the law says and what they do are two different things.

An affidavit attesting you are domiciled gets you a ballot and thanks to the illustrious judiciary, domiciled can mean anything you want it to mean - or nothing at all.
 
Last time I checked, mass murder is illegal. The blame should be assigned to the POS low-life that carried this act out and nowhere else. No other person, no company, no gun shop, no inanimate objects. Period.
 
Wrong. Colorado has no AWB, only stupid shit like Boulder's attempt at it. Purchase of that rifle would have been completely legal by a non-PP.

Being a rifle and being legal in his state of residence (DL) there's nothing stopping an FFL from selling it to him provided the NICS check comes up proceed.
It's not covered in this article, but the last one I saw on this said the Feds were arguing that the gun was sold with a 30-rd mag, which is illegal in CO, therefore the sale was illegal.

That's a stretch, even for f-ing Feds.
 
It's not covered in this article, but the last one I saw on this said the Feds were arguing that the gun was sold with a 30-rd mag, which is illegal in CO, therefore the sale was illegal.

That's a stretch, even for f-ing Feds.

An accessory does not the gun make. Definitely a big stretch there.
 
You can't legally buy a rifle out of state if it's not legal in your home state.

Otherwise MA would be flooded with ARs from NH and elsewhere. The FFL messed up if they didn't have any documentation supporting TX residency.
And the background check also messed up.
They had two chances to get it right and failed at both.

But .. WE NEED MORE LAWS!!! ...
 
But in NH you can register to vote on election day with an of state drivers license.

:confused:
And a statement that you intend to become a resident. And of the over 5000 voters who did this in 2016 only 20% did. The other 80% went back to where ever the Democrats brought them from.
 
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Not irrelevant, an FFL can only sell you a long gun if it is legal for you to own in your state of residence. If he (the scumbag) had other information to establish residency in Texas (lease agreement, utility bills, etc) then the sale would have been legal under federal law.
Are ARs no longer legal in Colorado? I thought they just banned the clipazines...
 
I'd like the see GCA '68 repealed in entirety, so I definitely do not think the gun shop is culpable in any way. This is government fail (NICS) written all over it, but we know gov will never admit it f***ed up or that laws dont work, so here we are going after another citizen.
 
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