The Texas church shooting gunman should never have been able to buy a gun

• Devin Patrick Kelley, the suspected gunman behind the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history, had committed felonies that should have kept him from buying a gun.
• Kelley had been dishonorably discharged from the military after being court-martialed after a count of assault on his spouse and one on his child.
• Both felony charges and domestic violence charges should legally prohibit someone from buying a gun.

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Devin Patrick Kelley, the man authorities suspect killed 26 and injured 20 in the deadliest mass shooting in Texas history, should have been prohibited from buying a gun under US law.

A former airman with the US Air Force, Kelley, received a dishonorable discharge from the military, after charges of assault against his spouse and child led him to be court-martialed.

Military members dishonorably discharged cannot legally purchase a gun, but somehow Kelley managed.

Furthermore, Kelley's assault against his wife and child likely qualify as domestic violence, which also legally disqualifies a citizen from gun ownership.

On the federal government's firearm transaction record, which buyers must legally fill out, Kelley would have had to state that he had never been convicted of a felony. Both Kelley's assault counts likely went down as felonies. Lying on the firearms transaction record is an additional felony punishable by up to five years in jail.

Kelley bought a Ruger AR-556 rifle, used in the attack on the church in Sutherland Springs, in April 2016 from an Academy Sports & Outdoors store in San Antonio, a law enforcement official told CNN.

The purchase of the gun took place two years after Kelley had been court-martialed, imprisoned, most likely charged with multiple felonies, and dishonorably discharged from the military.

Wearing black tactical-style gear and carrying that rifle, Kelley entered the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and opened fire on the churchgoers.

"You've got your pews on either side. He just walked down the center aisle, turned around and my understanding was shooting on his way back out," said Wilson County Sheriff Joe D. Tackitt Jr., whose territory includes Sutherland Springs. Tackitt added that there was likely "no way" for churchgoers to escape after the shooting started.

The victims of the shooting range from five to 72 years of age. Kelley fled the scene when confronted by armed citizens who he then led on a high-speed chase. Authorities found Kelley dead from gunshot wounds in his car several miles from the scene.