On Monday, Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) published the following tweet:
The Atlantic’s senior editor, David Frum, tweeted a similar idea:
The above tweets are the perfect illustration of progressive ignorance regarding the Second Amendment, guns, and gun laws.
As The Washington Free Beacon’s Alex Griswold points out, it’s already illegal for someone with a record of domestic abuse to purchase a firearm:
Passed unanimously by Congress in 1996, the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban prevents anyone who has been convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse, or anyone subject to a domestic violence protective order, from owning a weapon.
Griswold notes that the Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban was upheld by the Supreme Court In 2016.
Schatz and Frum published their tweets the day after Devin Patrick Kelley shot and killed 26 churchgoers in Texas. Prior to his rampage, Kelley had a disturbing history of abuse. The New York Times writes that “according to Air Force records,” Kelley brutally harmed his wife and infant son during his time in the military, for which he was charged with assault.
Based on what’s been reported in the news, it appears the only reason Devin Patrick Kelley was able to buy a gun was because the Air Force failed to input his criminal record into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Had his record been in the system, he would have been flagged.
One has to wonder if the individuals (politician or pundit) making inaccurate claims regarding gun control are simply ignorant, or if they know the law, but are using social media to virtue signal to their base who likely don’t know the law. Either way you slice it, it’s not a good look.
As of this publication, neither Schatz nor Frum have deleted their tweets, which have racked up a combined 38,900 “likes,” and 9,600 retweets.