I don’t know of any commercial gun seller who would sell a gun that 1) had trigger questions on the 4473 answered affirmatively, or 2) didn’t get back a confirmation number from the NICS hotline on a clean background check.
Frankly, I think the Director is either lying of falsely implying they (NICS) gave to the go-ahead.
According to the article:
A loophole in the check system allowed the man, Dylann Roof, to buy the .45-caliber handgun despite his having previously admitted to drug possession, the bureau said.
“We are all sick this happened,” said the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey. “We wish we could turn back time.”