Charleston church shooting victims sue FBI over gun Dylann Roof bought

[Ada Lovelace]

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-charleston-victims-sue-fbi-20160701-snap-story.html

Excerpts:

The FBI is being sued by survivors of the shooting inside the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., who say federal mistakes enabled Dylann Roof to buy the .45-caliber handgun he used.

Lawyers for three people who survived the attack and the estates of five who were slain say the FBI negligently failed to conduct a thorough background check before Roof bought the gun last year.

If the agency had done its job, Roof's prior drug arrest would have shown up, and the bureau would have denied his purchase, the lawsuits filed Thursday allege.

Attorney Andy Savage said Friday that his clients hope the litigation will lead to improvements in gun safety.

"In this case, you had an unqualified purchaser that slipped through the cracks," Savage told the Associated Press. "And the result is what happened on June 17."

Federal officials didn't immediately return an email seeking comment.

The June 17, 2015, shootings by a young white man of nine black parishioners who had welcomed him to their Bible study renewed debates about race relations in the South.

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Law enforcement agencies have acknowledged since last summer that mistakes were made involving Roof's April 2015 gun purchase. FBI Director James Comey has said the transaction should have been denied, and he promised a full review.

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon told the AP that a jail clerk entered incorrect information for Roof's February 2015 drug arrest, and that while the mistake was noticed within days, it wasn't fixed in a state database.

So when Roof sought to buy the gun two months later, an FBI examiner spotted the arrest, but called the wrong agency to get his record. Without the necessary documents, the purchase had to go through.

Congress has limited federal background checks to three days, although states can extend this window.

South Carolina legislators filed a number of bills to increase the window after the shootings, but none advanced. The Senate Judiciary chairman ultimately promised a hearing this summer, but it still hasn't been scheduled.

 

[High Fidelity]

Good for them. I'm all for more gun regulations, but there's no use in that yet if the existing ones aren't even being enforced.

 

[Cimorene]

Hope it goes well for them.

 

[crjmurray]

That's messed up.