Laura Loomer Was Not Denied Gun Ownership Due to Politics
The Claim
Laura Loomer was banned from owning a gun because of her political views.
News posted on
Emerging story
On January 19th, activist and former Florida Republican House candidate Laura Loomer blogged that her right to purchase a firearm had been revoked. She stated the reason was her conservative political views, and she shared the post on Gab in late April. The post traveled throughout the site, but as Loomer is banned from other social media platforms she could not directly share her post on mainstream platforms.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s analysis finds Loomer’s claim that her political beliefs are the reason why she has been banned from owning a gun to be false. After applying for a Florida concealed carry permit and being denied, Loomer posted a photo of her denial letter on her website:
She goes on to claim she has never been convicted of a felony or of domestic violence, and has never been deemed mentally unfit. Nonetheless, her name appears on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as not cleared to purchase a firearm. The FBI’s website lists several ways a person’s name can wind up on the list including misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, being under indictment, and the vaguely titled category of “state prohibitor.” A state prohibitor is a specific state’s reason for adding a person to the NICS.
At the end of her blog post, Loomer states her intention to sue over improper denial on the NICS and requests donations to help her do so. From an in-depth study of the NICS by the Federation of American Scientists, between 1998 and 2018, one-fifth of denials were appealed (which Loomer has already done), and one-tenth of those appeals were actually overturned. Most of the overturned cases were due to misidentifying the denied person. Also, according to the official NICS guidelines, Section 25.10, Loomer can obtain the reason for her denial.
Loomer has faced arrest and possible convictions in several cases. In 2017 she was arrested for public disturbance after storming on stage during a theater production of “Julius Caesar.” She is accused of jumping the fence to Nancy Pelosi’s California home, and climbing the fence to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s home while wearing a sombrero.
Loomer is a self-proclaimed Islamophobe who has been widely described as a conspiracy theorist. She has been banned from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and is no stranger to controversy.
While Loomer posted proof that she had been denied, there is no proof that the denial has anything to do with her political beliefs.
