Following the mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs in Texas, and the Air Force’s failure to report the criminal background of the killer, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered on Wednesday a review of the background check database the FBI uses for potential gun buyers.
He ordered the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to find out if other government entities are not reporting similar information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Reuters reports that Sessions said he was directing them “to do a comprehensive review of the NICS and report back to me the steps we can take to ensure that those who are prohibited from purchasing firearms are prevented from doing so.”
He also requested a report which shows how many times these agencies investigate and prosecute people for making false claims on their gun-purchase applications.
Session’s memo described the database as “critically important to protecting the American public from firearms-related violence,” and added that its relevance depends on the information government agencies supply to it.
A separate review of the gunman, Devin Kelley, has been launched by the inspector general of the Pentagon. Kelley’s case of domestic violence was not submitted to the database, which made it possible for him to buy a weapon.
Sessions, who deemed the revelation “alarming,” directed the FBI and the ATF to collaborate with the Department of Defense to determine whether there were other obstacles agencies encounter in sharing information with the database. The Pentagon is well aware of similar failures to provide the FBI with military criminal history information.
The issue also attracted bipartisan attention. Lawmakers have joined forced to craft legislation which would strengthen the database by making sure relevant criminal information is reported to the FBI by federal agencies.
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