Kelley's general court-martial guilty plea should have made it illegal for him to own, buy, or possess a firearm or ammunition. The conviction should have been flagged by NICS and prevented the purchase.
[67][70] Federal law prohibits those convicted of domestic violence–even if it is only a misdemeanor–from possessing firearms.
[71][72]
However, the Air Force failed to relay the court-martial convictions to the FBI. In a statement admitting the oversight, the Air Force said, "Initial information indicates that Kelley's domestic violence offense was not entered into the
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database by the Holloman Air Force Base Office of Special Investigations."
[5][73]