Tipsheet

Gun Control Groups Lie About Non-Existent Background Check "Loophole," Blame NRA Instead of FBI Screw Up on Charleston Killer

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  July 13, 2015 8:50 AM

In case you missed it last week, FBI Director James Comey admitted his agency is responsible for Charleston killer Dylann Roof getting his hands on a gun when he was ineligible to do so. Roof passed a background check during a firearm purchase, something Comey admitted shouldn't have happened due to a felony charge on his record prior to the purchase. 

In a meeting with reporters at FBI headquarters, [FBI Director James] Comey said failures in the gun purchase screening system enabled Roof to acquire the weapon used in an attack that authorities have said was motivated by Roof’s racist views, and whose political repercussions led South Carolina to remove the Confederate flag from its statehouse grounds this week.

Roof’s ability to purchase the gun has been a focus for investigators since the June 17 attack. Roof had been arrested for possession of narcotics in February, a felony charge that should have surfaced on criminal databases and prevented him from buying a weapon at a gun store.

But Comey indicated that the data was not properly entered in federal criminal justice computer systems, or had been mishandled by an analyst with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System [NICS].

Regardless of the admission, gun control groups are lying about a non-existent gun background check "loophole," blaming the National Rifle Association and ignoring FBI responsibility for the situation. 

Take for example Everytown For Gun Safety, an outfit of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Over the weekend Everytown sent out an email 1) claiming Roof didn't pass an FBI background check 2) claiming the NRA supported a "loophole" which allowed Roof to get his hands on a gun.

There's just a few major problems: 1) Roof did in fact pass a background check that the FBI approved (but shouldn't have by Comey's own admission) 2) the "loophole" Everytown cites doesn't exist and therefore it's impossible the NRA supported it.

Recommended

These Democratic Senators Could Sure Be in Trouble After Voting for Sanders' Anti-Israel Resolutions Rebecca Downs
The Forever-Tarnished Legacy of Barack Obama Jeff Davidson

Journalists and the Brady Campaign followed with a similar line of false accusation on the background check issue.

Here's the bottom line: If there's a "loophole" (which there isn't) gun control advocates can demand federal legislation to "fix" the nonexistent loophole, which is exactly what they are doing. There is no "deadly loophole" to close as Everytown claims, but that isn't stopping them from lying about it. An FBI screw up isn't a loophole, it's a screw up.

Once again gun control groups have proved they don't care about the facts, but instead their ultimate goal of gun bans based on non-existent issues. I'll leave you with this: