Did you guess the US Department of Justice?

Don't blame the government if the laws don't work as promised.   

In November 2017, there was a church mass shooting in Southerland Springs, TX, resulting in 27 dead and 22 more injured.  About 80 survivors and victims families were awarded $230 million due to the federal government's negligence.  A judge ruled in 2021 the government was mostly responsible for the shooting and that it was "jointly and severally liable for the damages that may be awarded."

The rationale behind the judgement was based on the failure of the Air Force and the FBI to prevent the shooter from purchasing and possessing firearms via the NICS background check system.

The DOJ intends to appeal the decision, but so far all they have done is request 2 extensions to file.  The latest filing deadline is approaching in a week, and it's unlikely to be pushed back a third time.

The DOJ argued in the first trial that the shooter could have gotten his firearm by going outside the background check system.  Even if the Air Force had provided the FBI proper information on the shooter's mental health history, and the FBI had used that information and other health information to deny the purchase through a dealer, they are arguing that would not have stopped him from getting a gun.  Theft, borrowing from a friend or family member, black market purchase, private party purchase and building one himself are all viable ways of acquiring a firearm while avoiding the background check system.

The people telling the nation that background checks work are lying, and most of us know it.  Now they are having to admit it in a court of law if they want to not only avoid paying this judgement, but all the lawsuits sure to follow -- which you know will be massive since many criminals have been found to use guns they bought legally after passing the NICS background check.

The article is obfuscating the fact that NICS doesn't stop criminals by calling it a gun lobby "talking point."   

Sutherland Springs shooting survivors say
DOJ appeal damages gun safety laws
Surviving victims and critics say the government's appeal of a decision that found it liable
in the 2017 mass shooting could undermine the nation's background check system.

Critics of the Justice Department’s potential appeal, including the surviving victims,
said the agency's stated arguments undermine the background check system — a
cornerstone of President Joe Biden's gun policy priorities. The government's lawyers
claimed during the first trial that the gunman could have purchased firearms elsewhere,
even if a background check would have prevented him from legally purchasing them
from a licensed gun dealer.

The government has until Jan. 9 to file its appeal, in which it could further argue that
the background check system — a key defense in the United States to ensure guns
are not acquired by criminals or people with a history of violence — does not work,
which critics say is a common talking point of the gun lobby.

In July 2021, the government was found liable for failing to provide records that could
have kept Devin Kelley from acquiring the weapon he used in the shooting at the First
Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, and it was ordered to pay the more than 80
survivors and victim family members $230 million. The Justice Department has received
two extensions to file its appeal brief, now due next week, and is unlikely to receive
another one.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sutherland-springs-survivors-say-appeal-damages-gun-safety-laws-rcna63519

By the way, in case you don't remember, Biden was tasked by Obama after Sandy Hook to find ways to prevent future gun violence like that.

What came out of several hearings, among other things, is that the background check system is broken, understaffed, and doesn't mandate the states participate -- i.e. filtering pertinent information that might deny a gun purchase so it's available to the FBI.  Even states that voluntarily submit data to the feds are backlogged 6 months, a year, or more in their reporting efforts.  That represents a large window in which a person who should be prohibited is able to buy from a dealer before NICS knows to flag him.

Biden wants even more gun laws, even though the ones we have are ineffective or unenforceable.  That fact was also part of the hearings, but I guess he forgot.   

If the anti gun org's put as much time, money, and effort into things that helped instead of just banning stuff, I think we would be better as a nation.

This whole thing is not about guns but about power.
Here in Hawaii we have to beg to get what most other Americans
just do.without thinking.
Buy a gun,  go out and shoot it in a safe area.
Carry that gun for self protection in public.
all without the gun being registered.
Hawaii Democrats are so afraid of guns being used against
government and their agents that they act like Communist China
or Russia and enact similar gun laws.
Since the government here is so full of such assholes perhaps
they have good reason to be afraid.
BTW - Per ATF Hawaii has a very healthy Black market in
guns,  who would have guessed?