Fifty Millionth Background Check Flags Felon

Do you have any idea how many instant background checks have been performed since the NICS system was instituted? I didn’t either until I read a press release issued by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) just before this issue went to press. Over fifty million! And guess who got the honor of being potential-buyer number 50,000,000? That’s right—a convicted felon. According to the U. S. Department of Justice, on a Monday earlier this fall, a Dallas, Texas, man tried to buy a gun in a local pawnshop.

The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System worked to a tee. The system denied the purchase because of an outstanding warrant issued against the customer only hours earlier. This individual was wanted for aggravated assault, and had a record of arrests on charges ranging from aggravated kidnapping to assault with a deadly weapon. Established by a federal act in 1993 and launched in 1998, NICS is used by all federal firearms licensees.

If a customer name is matched against any item in a menu of prohibitive criteria, the retailer cannot complete the sale.

Of the 50 million background checks performed, the FBI says 378,986 potential buyers had been denied. "When you look at the success of NICS and other existing laws and regulations, and combine them with the firearms industry’s continuing public safety and education campaigns, there are many powerful elements in place to safeguard against misuse of guns," said Doug Painter, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Painter cited anew NSSF campaign called "Don’t Lie for the Other Guy" designed to create awareness that it’s a serious crime to buy a gun for someone who can’t pass a NICS background check. This message is driven by the slogan, "Purchase a gun for someone who can’t and buy yourself 10 years in jail." Sadly, neither the Justice Department nor the NSSF reported what happened to number 50,000,000. But I suspect by now he’s got anew number, and he’s wearing it on his shirt. Score one more for the good guys.