Cities sue Pentagon

Cities sue Pentagon over failure to report convictions

By BRYAN BENDER

The cities of New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco have filed suit against the Pentagon for repeatedly failing to report military convictions to a federal database designed to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals.

The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Virginia on Friday in cooperation with former Arizona Democratic congresswoman and shooting victim Gabby Giffords’ gun control advocacy group.

The cities are seeking a court order to monitor compliance with reporting requirements that the Pentagon in recent weeks has acknowledged it has failed to comply with for years.

Two separate military investigations — one by the Air Force and one by the Department of Defense Inspector General — recently found the failure to share the data is systemic across the military branches, in some cases a full third of the time.

The reviews were undertaken in November after a former airman, David Kelley, shot to death 26 people — including an unborn baby — in a Texas church. Kelley had been convicted in a military court of domestic violence, but his case was never reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which would have prevented him from buying a gun.

The complaint states that “twenty-six innocent people were murdered and twenty others wounded, in a Texas church in a mass shooting that could, and should, have been prevented. ... Had Defendants simply followed the law, that shooter never should have been able to purchase the weapon he used.”

“No new laws are required to achieve that goal,” it adds. “Instead, this Court need only grant Plaintiffs’ request to compel Defendants to diligently implement, and consistently apply, the unambiguous laws that have been on the books for decades.”

The lawsuit names as defendants Defense Secretary James Mattis; the secretaries of the Air Force, Navy, and Army; and the heads of the military branches’ criminal investigation arms.

Both the Pentagon and Department of Justice declined to comment on the case Tuesday.

But a Justice Department spokeswoman, Lauren Ehrsam, pointed out that Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a separate review of his own in November and is determined to “work with the Department of Defense to identify and resolve any issues with the military’s reporting of convictions.”

Those bringing the new lawsuit, however, said the court must step in to ensure the necessary changes are implemented.

“The horrific mass shooting in Sutherland Springs made all too clear the devastating consequences that can follow when known dangerous people are able to pass background checks and acquire guns,” Adam Skaggs, chief counsel for Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement. “For two decades the Department of Defense was aware of the fact that it was failing to report unacceptably high numbers of disqualifying records to the FBI.”

The group complains the GOP Congress, which is considering legislation to address the problem in the form of the proposed Fix NICS Act, has dragged its feet.

“This is why we’re now going to the courts,” Skaggs added. “After twenty years of failure, outside monitoring by the courts is clearly necessary to guarantee that the reporting failures that led to the Texas church shooting never happen again.”