With a number of purposed gun purchase related background checks being authored in Washington, the current system had its weaknesses exposed again.
Tennis Maynard is accused of shooting newly elected Mingo County West Virginia Sheriff, Eugene Crum, as Crum sat in his squad car last week. According to local sources, “Maynard bought the gun at a local gun store.” It is believed that Maynard was already prohibited from owning a gun because of his mental-health history, but managed to purchase one anyway through a process that already requires a gun purchase background check. Source further indicate that the background check was somehow delayed in providing the correct information as intended. By law, Maynard was barred from buying and owning a gun because of his stay in a mental institution. He was also found to have other firearms in his possession after his arrest.
Even if Maynard lied on the form used in the gun purchase background check at the time he was buying the gun, that background check should have caught the disqualifying issues in his past, because they automatically show up when a check is run against the FBI’s database. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Sheriff Crum and the people of Mingo County that he protected.