Three cities in the United States sue Pentagon over gun-check system failures

This aerial photo taken on April 23, 2015 shows the Pentagon headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, outside Washington, DC. (Photo by AFP)

Three major cities in the United States have filed a federal lawsuit against the Pentagon, arguing that the military’s “broken system” led to the massacre of more than two dozen people inside a Texas church last month.

New York City, San Francisco and Philadelphia said in court papers on Tuesday that the Pentagon’s failure to report service members disqualified from purchasing and possessing firearms to the FBI’s national background check system led to one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history early in November.

The cities' attorneys said local law enforcement officials relied on the FBI's database to carry out background checks on gun permit applications and to monitor purchases, therefore; the database had to be up-to-date in order to prevent people from wrongly getting guns.

"This failure on behalf of the Department of Defense has led to the loss of innocent lives by putting guns in the hands of criminals and those who wish to cause immeasurable harm," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. "New York City is joining Philadelphia and San Francisco to stand up to the Department of Defense and demand they comply with the law and repair their drastically flawed system."

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney also said in a statement that the city “relies on this reporting when making the crucial decision whether a license-to-carry applicant should be permitted to carry a firearm.”

"We're joining in this suit because reporting these records is absolutely critical to those decisions. The background check system only works if it contains the proper records,” Kenney noted.

On November 5, Devin Patrick Kelley, a former US airman, opened fire at a small church outside San Antonio, Texas, claiming more than 20 lives.

The 26-year-old had been court-martialed for domestic violence while still on active duty in 2012 and consequently barred from owning or buying firearms.

It was later revealed that the US Air Force had failed to report Kelley’s domestic violence conviction to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services, which would then upload such information into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, barring Kelley from buying a gun.

The US Air Force serviceman was sentenced to a 12-months incarceration and demoted to the lowest possible military rank. After serving his time, Kelley was forced out of the military on a bad conduct discharge.

The Pentagon declined to comment on the lawsuit.

"The department continues to work with the services as they review and refine their policies and procedures to ensure qualifying criminal history information is submitted to the FBI," said Tom Crosson, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Pentagon reported earlier this month that the US Air Force had failed to submit records in approximately 14 percent of its cases, the Navy and Marine Corps in 36 percent of cases and the army neglected to submit records in 41 percent of cases.