San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Defense (DoD) for its failure to report dishonorable discharges and criminal conviction information to the national criminal background check system for gun sales.
The military is required to provide this information to the FBI to prevent to prevent individuals from legally buying and possessing firearms. It was recently discovered that DoD has not properly reported convictions and dishonorable discharges for at least two decades.
This issue was brought to light after a former member of the U.S. Air Force convicted of assaulting his wife and child shot 26 people at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas in November. An investigation found that the Air Force had failed to report his disqualifying records to the FBI.
“The national criminal background check system is the backbone of common-sense gun regulations,” San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera said. “The Defense Department’s failure to fulfill its legal duty and accurately report criminal convictions puts innocent Americans at risk. It is past time to ensure that we’re doing everything we can to keep guns out of the wrong hands.”
The lawsuit, The City of New York v. The United States Department of Defense, et al., seeks a court injunction and judicial oversight to ensure ongoing compliance with the requirements to submit records to the FBI.
San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where DoD is located. The cities filed the lawsuit coordination with the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. The law firm worked with Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence to develop the case.