Schumer wants FBI to investigate Louisiana shooting

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling on FBI Director James Comey to launch an investigation into a shooting earlier this month at a movie theater in Louisiana that killed two people.

Schumer, expected to be the next Senate Democratic leader, sent a letter to the head of the law enforcement agency Wednesday suggesting the need for an investigation to determine if errors in the national background-check system are allowing people to obtain guns they shouldn’t be able to purchase.

{mosads}”Today, I am urging the FBI to immediately open a formal investigation into the tragic Lafayette, Louisiana movie theater shooting,” the New York Democrat said in a separate statement. “The way to identify the errors of the national criminal background check system — and then to hopefully address them — is with the FBI’s resources and expertise.”

Authorities identified John Houser as the man who opened fire in the Lafayette theater. Schumer noted in his letter that Houser “had a troubled history yet still purchased a gun through a legal vendor.”

Schumer wants the FBI to look into whether Houser bought a gun legally and underwent a background check, if he passed the background check due to an error and if a state’s record keeping is blocking the national background-check system from being able to “function fully.” 

He also wants the agency to see if there are inconsistencies for submitting records across state lines for people with mental health issues.

In addition to his letter, Schumer, along with Connecticut Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, has called on gun sellers to improve the background-check process.