Background check loophole let alleged Charleston shooter Dylann Roof buy gun, FBI says

Dylann Roof
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Dylann Roof, who is accused of fatally shooting nine people last month in a historically black Charleston church, should not have been able to purchase a gun, the FBI said Friday. Because of a loophole in the system, the people who conducted Roof's background check did not have access to a police report indicating previous drug possession, which potentially would have prevented him from purchasing a .45-caliber handgun.

"We are all sick this happened," FBI Director James Comey said. “We wish we could turn back time."

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.