Texas shooting brings familiar response on Capitol Hill

Congress returned to Washington on
Monday facing the grim and all-too-
frequent task of consoling a country
rocked by yet another shooting massacre,
this one at a small church in rural Texas.
But beyond the rudimentary calls for
solidarity in the face of unspeakable
violence, there was little unity in the
nation’s capital, as lawmakers quickly
adopted the familiar postures that have
left the parties diametrically opposed
when it comes to Congress’s role in
battling rampant gun deaths.
Republicans, behind President Trump,
quickly shifted the debate from firearms
to mental health. Speaking at a news
conference in Tokyo, the president
lamented the “very sad event,” but
rejected the notion that the nation’s gun
laws are too lax.
“This isn’t a guns situation,” Trump said.
Democrats pointed to Sunday’s shooting
as just the latest evidence that guns fall
too easily into the hands of those with
violent intent. They’re accusing GOP
leaders of sitting idly by out of fear of the
gun lobby while the death tolls mount.
“It is inexcusable for us to offer our
sympathy but not take any action to
prevent the next tragedy,” said Rep.
(Md.), the Democratic whip.
The entrenched discord over the scope of
Second Amendment rights is hardly new,
though it foreshadows yet another season
of angry debate and congressional
inaction even as the country reels
from Sunday’s massacre in Texas. For
some gun reformers, the mood is one of
simple resignation.
“I’ve been here for a number of these
massacres and Congress does not act.
There's a solid majority of the Congress
that does not believe that any further gun
regulation is necessary,” said Rep.
(R-N.Y.), who on Friday introduced
legislation with Rep. Mike Thompson (D-
Calif.) that would expand background
checks prior to gun sales.
“I disagree with them, but that's the
majority of Congress.”
Yet even for a nation grown numb from
mass shootings, Sunday’s massacre at the
First Baptist Church in Sutherland
Springs, Texas, was extraordinarily
shocking. Twenty-six parishioners were
killed, and 20 others injured, when a lone
gunman, feuding with his in-laws,
entered the service with a military-style
rifle and began firing indiscriminately.
Those killed ranged in age from 18
months to 77 years, and 14 others remain
either in serious or critical condition,
according to Freeman Martin, regional
director of the Texas Department of
Public Safety, who briefed reporters from
Sutherland Springs Monday morning.
The suspect, 26-year-old Devin Kelley,
had previously served in the Air Force but
was court-martialed in 2012 for an assault
on his wife and step-son. Kelley was
confined by the military for a year, and
later discharged for “bad conduct,”
according to Air Force spokeswoman Ann
Stefanek. He died in his Ford Expedition
after fleeing the church from what law
enforcers suspect was a self-inflicted
gunshot wound.
The Air Force
acknowledged Monday evening that
Kelley's court-martial barred him from
buying or owning guns, but officials
failed to submit those records to the
federal database that might have blocked
the sales.
"Federal law prohibited him from buying
or possessing firearms after this
conviction," Stefanek said in a statement.
The Defense Department has launched an
investigation into the Air Force
mishandling of those criminal records,
and will conduct a similar review across
the Pentagon.
Kelley's “bad conduct” designation ––
different from a dishonorable discharge —
may have played a crucial role
in his ability to obtain his firearms. While
licensed gun dealer are required to screen
potential buyers through the National
Instant Criminal Background Check
System (NICS), an FBI database, the
federal background check form asks only
if the applicant has “been discharged from
the Armed Forces under dishonorable
conditions” — a technicality Kelley
appears to have eluded.
Freeman said that Kelley had undergone
extensive screening to get an “unarmed
private security license,” and “there were
no disqualifiers” to raise red flags.
“Private security background checks
including fingerprints and criminal history
checks for the Texas Crime Information
Center and the National Crime
Information Center databases were
checked and he was cleared,” Freeman
said.
Fred Milanowski, special agent in charge
of the Houston office of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF), said the agency is still investigating
Kelley’s legal right to bear arms.
“Until we can get all the documentation,
to determine exactly what his discharge
was, and exactly what his conviction in
the military [was], we will not have a
determination on if this individual was
prohibited from possessing or purchasing
firearms,” Milanowski said.
There's no way to know if Kelley would
have found a way to obtain firearms if the
Air Force had submitted his criminal
history to the database. (Not all gun
purchases require background checks,
creating a huge loophole for buyers with
a history like Kelley's). But the oversight
seems to have made the process easier.
Kelley had purchased four firearms
between 2014 and 2017 at a rate of one
per year — two in Colorado and two from
the Academy Sports + Outdoors chain at
separate locations in San Antonio. The
company said Monday that the Texas
purchases occurred in 2016 and 2017, and
both sales were approved by NICS.
Federal law stipulates that spousal
abusers are barred from owning guns, and
the federal form asks applicants if they’ve
“been convicted in any court of a
misdemeanor crime of domestic
violence.” Kelley checked no, and was
able to pass the screening, suggesting the
Air Force didn’t share the information
with NICS. The Air Force did not
respond Monday to a question about its
NICS policy.
Yet another lingering mystery is this:
while Kelley was able to purchase guns
through NICS without a hitch, he was
denied a permit to carry a firearm in
Texas, raising questions about why the
state had disqualifying information the
federal government did not.
“Current law, as it exists right now,
should have prevented him from being
able to get a gun,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
(R) told “CBS This Morning” on Monday.
As investigators seek to answers those
questions, the partisan fight over
Congress’s appropriate response seems
destined to go no further than the familiar
finger pointing that’s accompanied similar
tragedies of the past.
Sen. (R-Texas) wasted no time
training his criticism on the press for
“politicizing” the tragedy with questions
of gun reform. And Sen.
(R-Ky.), the majority leader, suggested it’s
futile to legislate gun violence away.
“It's hard to envision a foolproof way to
prevent individual outrages by evil
people,” he told CNN.
This story was updated at 7:19 p.m.