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How Academy Sports Could Be At Fault For Sutherland Springs Because Of A Firearm Accessory

Wil C. Fry/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

From Texas Standard:

A state district judge in San Antonio  ruled Monday that relatives of the victims of the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs can sue Academy Sports, the Katy-based sporting goods chain that sold the shooter the rifle he used in the 2017 attack.

Timothy Lytton, professor at Georgia State University College of Law, says this could have implications nationwide because the judge ruled that Academy broke a federal law.

The shooter used a Colorado ID to buy the weapon at a San Antonio Academy store.

"Academy sold the AR-556 that was used in the shooting with a 30-round magazine, and that 30-round magazine is illegal in the state of Colorado," Lytton says. "You're not allowed, as a seller of firearms in one state, to sell a firearm to a resident of another state unless the firearm sales comports with the laws both of the state in which you're selling the weapon and the state where the ... buyer comes from."

What you'll hear in this segment:– How the law works when someone has residences in more than one state

– How the background-check system may have failed in this case

– How this could change the way businesses sell firearm accessories

Written by Caroline Covington.

Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit KUT 90.5.

Rhonda is the newest member of the KUT News team, joining in late 2013 as producer for KUT's new daily news program, The Texas Standard. Rhonda will forever be known as the answer to the trivia question, “Who was the first full-time hire for The Texas Standard?” She’s an Iowa native who got her start in public radio at WFSU in Tallahassee, while getting her Master's Degree in Library Science at Florida State University. Prior to joining KUT and The Texas Standard, Rhonda was a producer for Wisconsin Public Radio.