Flaw in reporting tribal cases stymies gun background checks

FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2014, file photo, an Indian-style blanket hangs along with flowers, notes, and a stuffed animal at a growing memorial at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Wash., where Jaylen R. Fryberg, 15, a student at the school and a member of the Tulalip Tribes, opened fire Oct. 24, 2014, in the school cafeteria. A glitch in the reporting system between tribal courts and criminal databases allowed Fryberg's father to purchase the handgun that was later used by his son in the fatal shooting. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2014, file photo, an Indian-style blanket hangs along with flowers, notes, and a stuffed animal at a growing memorial at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Wash., where Jaylen R. Fryberg, 15, a student at the school and a member of the Tulalip Tribes, opened fire Oct. 24, 2014, in the school cafeteria. A glitch in the reporting system between tribal courts and criminal databases allowed Fryberg's father to purchase the handgun that was later used by his son in the fatal shooting. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

By Associated Press April 7, 2015 1 min read

SEATTLE (AP) – A flawed reporting system between tribes and outside authorities allowed a man to buy a handgun that his son used to kill four classmates and himself in Washington state last year.

A domestic violence protection order issued by the Tulalip Tribal Court should have kept Raymond Lee Fryberg Jr. from buying guns, but it was never entered into any state or federal criminal records databases. The order would have been sent to a database if it was issued by a county court in Washington.

But critics say state and federal officials have failed to set up a system that allows tribal courts to enter those orders directly or easily.

Fryberg passed a background check when he bought one of the guns used by his son to kill four friends and himself at a high school north of Seattle in October.