Air Force Mistake Allowed Devin Kelley to Buy Guns

The man who killed 26 people in a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Sunday should not have been able to buy the rifle he used, the Washington Post reports. On Monday, Air Force officials admitted that Devin Kelley's 2014 court-martial conviction for domestic violence should have precluded him from legally buying firearms and body armor, but that the Air Force failed to alert federal law enforcement to the crime. According to an Air Force statement, Kelley's record was never entered into the National Criminal Information Center database, in violation of Pentagon guidelines. Kelley was convicted on two counts of domestic abuse against his wife and infant stepson in 2014 while serving in the Air Force. He was sentenced to a year in prison and released from the military with a bad conduct discharge.

The Air Force inspector general has been ordered to conduct a review of the Kelley case, alongside the Pentagon inspector general, the New York Times reports. The Air Force also says it will be looking into whether any other cases have gone unreported. “The service will also conduct a comprehensive review of Air Force databases to ensure records in other cases have been reported correctly,” the statement reads. (More Devin Kelley stories.)