Brady Act Background Checks, History, and Application

Brady Act Background Checks, History, and Application The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is perhaps the most controversial federal gun control law enacted since the Gun Control Act of 1968, and several events in the U.S. led to its creation and enactment. In an effort to deny guns to those who would misuse them, it requires firearms dealers to perform an automated background check on prospective buyers of all rifles, shotguns or handguns. Brady Bill History On March 30, 1981, 25-year old John W. Hinckley, Jr. tried to impress actress Jodi Foster by assassinating President Ronald Reagan with a .22 caliber pistol. While he accomplished neither, Hinckley did manage to wound President Reagan, a District of Columbia police officer, a Secret Service agent, and White House Press Secretary James S. Brady. While he survived the attack, Brady remains partially disabled. Driven largely by the reaction to the assassination attempt and Mr. Bradys injuries, the Brady Act was passed, requiring background checks on all persons attempting to purchase a firearm. These background checks must be performed or applied by federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs). NICS: Automating the Background Checks Part of the Brady Act required the Department of Justice to establish the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) which can be accessed by any licensed firearms dealer by telephone or any other electronic means for immediate access to any criminal information on prospective gun purchasers. Data is fed into the NICS by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and state, local, and other federal law enforcement agencies. Who Cannot Buy a Gun? Between 2001 and 2011, the FBI reports that over 100 million Brady Act background checks were performed, resulting in more than 700,000 gun purchases being denied. People who may be prohibited from purchasing a firearm as a result of data obtained from the NICS background check include: Convicted felons and people under indictment for a felonyFugitives from justiceUnlawful drug users or drug addictsIndividuals who have been determined to be mentally incompetentIllegal aliens and legal aliens admitted under a non-immigrant visaIndividuals who have been dishonorably discharged from the militaryPeople who have renounced their American citizenshipPeople under domestic violence restraining ordersPeople convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes Note: Under current federal law, being listed on the FBI Terrorist Watchlist as a suspected or confirmed terrorist is not grounds for denial of a firearm purchase. Possible Outcomes of a Brady Act Background Check A Brady Act gun buyer background check can have five possible outcomes. Immediate Proceed: The check found no disqualifying information in the NICS and the sale or transfer can proceed subject to state-imposed waiting periods or other laws. Of the 2,295,013 NICS checks done during the first seven months the Brady Act was enforced, 73% resulted in an Immediate Proceed. The average processing time was 30 seconds.Delay: The FBI determined that data not immediately available in the NICS needs to be found. Delayed background checks are typically completed in about two hours.Default Proceed: When a National Instant Criminal Background Check System check cannot be completed electronically (5% of all checks), the FBI must identify and contact state and local law enforcement officials. The Brady act allows the FBI three business days to complete a background check. If the check cannot be completed within three business days, the sale or transfer may be completed although potentially disqualifying information might exist in the NICS. The dealer is not required to complete the sale and the FBI will continue to review the case for two more weeks. If the FBI discovers disqualifying information after three business days, they will contact the dealer to determine whether or not the gun was transferred under the default proceed rule. Firearm Retrieval: When the FBI finds that a dealer has transferred a gun to a prohibited person due to a default proceed situation, local law enforcement agencies, and ATF are notified and an attempt is made to retrieve the gun and take appropriate action, if any, against the buyer. During the first seven months, the NICS was in operation, 1,786 such firearms retrievals were initiated.Denial of Purchase: When the NICS check returns disqualifying information on the buyer, the gun sale is denied. During the first seven months of NICS operation, the FBI blocked 49,160 gun sales to disqualified people, a denial rate of 2.13 percent. The FBI estimates that a comparable number of sales were blocked by participating state and local law enforcement agencies. Typical Reasons for Denial of Gun Purchases During the first seven months in which Brady Act gun buyer background checks were performed, the reasons for denial of gun purchases broke down as follows: 76 percent - Criminal history of a felony8 percent - Criminal history of domestic violence6 percent - Criminal history of other offenses (multiple DUIs, non-NCIC warrants, etc.)3 percent - Criminal history of drug abuse3 percent - Domestic violence restraining orders What About the Gun Show Loophole? While the Brady Act has blocked more than three million gun sales to prohibited purchasers since taking effect in 1994, gun control advocates contend that up to 40 percent of gun sales occur in â€Å"no questions asked† transactions that often take place over the Internet or at gun shows where, in most states, background checks are not required. As a result of this so-called â€Å"gun show loophole,† the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence estimates that about 22% of all gun sales nationwide are not subjected to Brady background checks. In an effort to close the loophole, the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2015 (H.R. 3411) was introduced in the House of Representatives on July 29, 2015. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), would require Brady Act background checks for all gun sales including sales made over the Internet and at gun shows. Since 2013, six states have enacted similar laws.