Brady Campaign: Details Don't Matter

It's the meme that's important.

In their latest fundraising campaign, they bring up the spectre of a murder from 15 years ago:

Fifteen years ago today, my brother and I went out for a bike ride while our father, Ricky Byrdsong, jogged alongside us. I never thought a simple outing through our neighborhood would end with my father dying before my eyes.
Just three blocks from our home, my father was shot and killed by a violent man, a Neo-Nazi with a criminal record that prohibited him from buying a gun. Despite the fact that he failed a background check, my father’s killer bought two handguns from an unlicensed private seller with no questions asked.
The frustration that remains today is that my father’s death could have been prevented…

It's true, the murderer, Benjamin Nathaniel Smith, WAS a prohibited person and had been refused a sale at a licensed dealer.  He then went to an unlicensed dealer who was under investigation by the BATFE.

CHICAGO — A central Illinois gun dealer who allegedly sold a white supremacist the two weapons used in a deadly Fourth of July weekend shooting spree was charged Wednesday with selling firearms illegally.

Note that.  Illinois.  What do you need in Illinois to own or purchase a firearm?  A FOID card. So did Smith get refused and then go through the 'loophole'?  Why no, no he didn't:

According to Illinois police, the state issued Smith a gun owner's ID card two weeks before the shootings because a background check did not reveal an order of protection filed by an ex-girlfriend. Let's enforce existing laws! The problem was confusion over middle initial problems, said officials.

So even though Feissinger was already breaking the law by 'being in the business' w/o a license,  it wasn't 'no questions asked' since Smith HAD A STATE ISSUED LICENSE to own a firearm because the ISP screwed up... again.

So obviously the solution is to pass MORE laws that won't be followed and the authorities will drop the ball on. 

One completely true statement from the email though:

P.S. Congress still ignores us

And this is part of the reason why. Not only the dishonesty of the email but the fact they're still living like it was their heyday over a decade ago.  Virtually noone knows who 'Jim Brady' is anymore so even their name is irrelevant today.