The New York Times – Air Force Error Allowed Texas Gunman to Buy Weapons – “The Air Force admitted that it didn’t enter Devin P. Kelley’s domestic violence court-martial into a database that could have prevented him from buying a gun.”

News release: “‘As each new detail emerges from what is still an ongoing investigation, we need to study the whole puzzle, ask ourselves how did this happen, why so many lives were lost and what if anything could have been done to prevent it.’ ‘I plan to introduce legislation… to ensure that all federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Defense, upload the required conviction records into the national database.’ ‘According to the Department of Justice, the number of these records that are actually uploaded is staggeringly low. That is unacceptable and it must change.’ ‘We need to better understand why our existing laws didn’t work in this instance and that’s what my proposed legislation will do.’

Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) announced plans to introduce legislation that would incentivize federal agencies, including the military, to expeditiously and efficiently upload the already-required criminal conviction records into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Sen. Cornyn previously introduced the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act, a bill to encourage states and agencies to upload more mental health records into NICS and to improve crisis response by law enforcement. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video of his remarks can be found here.”