Aguila Blanca
Staff
The National Shooting Sports Foundation has announced that the government, of behalf of the Air Force, has agreed to settle claims against the government for $144.5 million dollars. For those who aren't aware or don't remember, the shooter was a former Air Force enlisted man who had multiple disqualifying factors from his time in the Air Force, but the Air Force didn't report the information to NICS.
https://www2.nssf.org/webmail/12742...9c462e1ae58777cd3a2b26ec740cd4bb889d5285b57cf
https://www2.nssf.org/webmail/12742...9c462e1ae58777cd3a2b26ec740cd4bb889d5285b57cf
The federal government agreed the U.S. Air Force failed to submit appropriate records into the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) that would have prohibited firearm purchases by the murderer in the 2017 Sutherland Springs, Texas, First Baptist Church tragedy. The murderer had a prior domestic violence assault conviction, was involuntarily committed to a mental health facility and dishonorably discharged, all prohibiting factors. The Air Force didn’t report those to the FBI, so they didn’t register in the background check when he purchased firearms. As a result, the government will pay 75 plaintiffs, the families of victims, more than $144.5 million to bring the case to a close. The Biden administration had been fighting against the case and the settlement, all while pushing for universal background checks and more gun control. This tragedy led to the NSSF-supported bipartisan Fix NICS Act named after our FixNICS® campaign.