Air Force Failed to Enter Conviction in Database

Not that it would have prevented the tragedy, but it sure didn’t help.

Kelley was court-martialed in 2012 for two counts of Article 128 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, assault on his spouse and assault on their child, spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said Monday. Kelley received a bad conduct discharge, confinement for 12 months and a reduction in rank, she said.

The Air Force did not provide a date of the discharge, but his military record indicates he left the service in May 2014.

“Initial information indicates that Kelley’s domestic violence offense was not entered into the National Criminal Information Center database by the Holloman Air Force Base Office of Special Investigations,” an Air Force statement issued later Monday said.

The failure to relay the information prevented the entry of his conviction into the federal database that must be checked before someone is able to purchase a firearm. Had his information been in the database, it should have prevented gun sales to Kelley.

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0643, 07 November 2017

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Crime | Military

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10 Comments

Jed on November 7, 2017 at 6:57 am

Not surprised at all.
Kevin Scheunemann on November 7, 2017 at 7:57 am

Looks like we had gun control and Obama’ssoft on crime military screwed up.
Le Roi du Nord on November 7, 2017 at 9:15 am

No, we don’t have enforceable gun control for the mentally ill. Nor is the military responsible for enforcing the laws on domestic crime. But “Obama’s soft on crime military” did take care of OBL. History and fact always puzzle you, no?
billphoto on November 7, 2017 at 10:40 am

So, IF the Air Force would have properly done their job, Kelley would not have passed the FBI background check and NOT been able to purchase firearms. I think that would make them tacitly responsible. Sounds to me like we have a working system and the pencil pushers screwed up.

I would note another poster is correct that the military is not responsible for enforcing domestic laws. The military is, however, responsible for enforcing military law like Article 128 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for which Kelley was convicted. They are also required to make entries of such violations into National Criminal Information Center database. Sorry to be redundant but some apparently missed this information in Owen’s original post.
Kevin Scheunemann on November 7, 2017 at 5:05 pm

Nord has a simple comprehension problem again.
Le Roi du Nord on November 7, 2017 at 6:01 pm

k:

True, I don’t comprehend your jibberish, hyperbole and outright factlessness. Other than that I comprehend just fine.

So perhaps you can enlighten us all with an in-depth explanation of how Obama’s military is soft on crime. Keep in mind that the military isn’t responsible for domestic crime, which was occurred at Texas church shooting.
Paul on November 7, 2017 at 6:07 pm

More personal attacks.
Paul on November 7, 2017 at 6:15 pm

And the nutjob escaped from the military wing of a mental hospital.

So that’s two government failures. Hey, let’s give them more control.
Jed on November 7, 2017 at 6:32 pm

The process by which conviction information can be entered into NICS-linked databases can vary by installation. At the time of this court-martial, many military law enforcement agencies didn’t have write access to the databases, and the info had to be snail-mailed to the FBI for input. There’s a lot of investigation to be done before it’s clear exactly where the breakdown was in the system.

And “Obama’ssoft on crime military”? Not sure where you got that impression, but you couldn’t be more wrong. The military is far more aggressive in its prosecutions than any civilian jurisdiction.
billphoto on November 8, 2017 at 7:10 am

Wow! “info had to be snail-mailed to the FBI for input”. Our government takes a lot of my earnings and spends billions on tech but they are still using snail mail.