I can only imagine the guilt that she lives with everyday. Just further proof that the existing system doesn't work. Even if the woman did manage to catch this, there is nothing stopping Roof from obtaining a gun through illicit means.

And he got that gun because of a gun nut coddling law that puts his sick desire for immediate gun gratification over the safety of the rest of us.

A thorough background check can't be done in 3 calendar days, particularly if those days fall on a weekend or holiday. Indeed, this "3 days or give him the gun" law guarantees that the very people who should be blocked from purchases --people with a long, problematic, complicated paper trail--are exactly the folks that will cause the FBI to run up against the 3-day deadline.

The 3-day law had no rational justification.

I am for strong gun laws and background checks, but this creep was going do it regardless. He would have procured the weapon illegally if needed. The white supremists he associated with would have gotten him one

We must try to stop the mentally ill and criminals from buying guns. Just throwing up your arms because some might still get a gun makes no sense. We don't know for sure what would have happened if Roof was turned down, other than, at a minimum, that those 9 poor souls would have lived at least a few more days.

Strong background checks work. Sabotaging a background check attempt by throwing in this 3-day limit for searches, and equating no reply from the FBI with an approval, is insane.

reason for the NICS Examiner to need more info, and there's a clear path to getting that info (i.e., not a fishing trip), I think it's reasonable to wait more than three days*. (Here in California, the corresponding limit for a DOJ background check is 30 days.)

Other things that would help would be accurate information in the FBI data (in this case, apparently, the FBI did not know the correct county for the relevant police department), more Examiners (it seems that this one didn't start the review until two days had elapsed), and some strong incentives to state and local entities to enter information correctly and in a timely manner.

An additional question that's relevant here is what happened after the three days expired: the FBI is supposed to continue the investigation for two more weeks (IIRC) and notify local authorities to retrieve the firearm if reason for a purchase denial exists. I haven't seen if that happened here...

* Edit: Also, of course, the FBI should be required to issue the approval immediately upon receipt of the necessary info, and not wait out the duration of the research period.

The default answer to buying a gun should be NO. until a gun dealer gets an affirmative answer that the customer is clear to buy a weapon, NO WEAPON SHOULD BE SOLD. Fuck 3 days.

To easy to impose a defacto ban by "losing" applications. When it comes to civil liberties the default should always be yes.

The answer is to properly fund the system and make the states enter the necessary data in a timely manner.

...instead of 3 calendar days?

Ten days or ten minutes - makes no difference if the data is not there or the investigator makes a mistake.

The FBI person tried calling to confirm the paperwork but had not gotten a call back. A few more business days would have allowed her to follow up. Sometimes people are out of the office, on vacation, etc. Why not give the FBI a reasonable amount of time to do the background check? As you point out, most of the time it is pretty instantaneous when there is not a paper trail issue. When there is a problem, the FBI should have a reasonable amount of time to resolve it. A 10 business day waiting period puts an insignificant burden on lawful gun purchasers.

You don't have a right to buy them fast.

Civil rights are that important.

And all of you know it. The only ground you have to stand on is the lunatic fascists on the Supreme Court who are wrong on every single issue, yet you seem to think they are right on this one.

The 2nd is about the militia, that's why they led off with it. There is no militia, we have a standing army. The 2nd is mute.

It says the 2A protects an individual right. President Obama has said the same. Is he a fascist?