PA Bill Number: HR541
Title: Recognizing the month of October 2024 as "Domestic Violence Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
Description: A Resolution recognizing the month of October 2024 as "Domestic Violence Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
Last Action: Reported as committed
Last Action Date: Oct 1, 2024
When a background check brings a rude surprise, gun buyers have options :: 12/18/2017
The clerk behind the gun store counter knows “that look” on a customer’s face. It’s not a happy one when the background check comes back with a denial of purchase.
“Oh, you can tell by looking at them, talking to them, they had absolutely no idea they’d be declined. When it’s a complete surprise to them,” said Chris Edwards, a longtime manager at Bass Pro Shops in Broken Arrow.
It’s not a common holiday surprise, but it can be an inconvenient one. Edwards said about 13 percent of the store’s purchasers experienced a sales delay during its busiest season.
Black Friday through opening day of deer season, and on through Christmas, firearms purchases hit their peak at area sporting goods stores.
A new concealed-carry pistol or deer rifle under the Christmas tree can be the best thing since Ralphie scored his Red Ryder in “A Christmas Story,” but consumers have to keep in mind one unique aspect of these holiday purchases — background check rules regarding legal possession.
Since passage of the Brady Handgun Violence and Prevention Act in 1994, a background check has been required prior to the purchase of firearms through licensed dealers. The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System is used to screen out purchases by convicted felons, immigration law violators, people dishonorably charged from the military or facing domestic violence proceedings, and others.
A record 27.5 million background checks were processed in the U.S. in 2016 and, of those, 120,479 were denied, according to the FBI’s 2016 NICS Operations Report.
The system is imperfect, as the country sadly learned after a mass shooting at a Texas church in November. An investigation showed that an airman’s discharge records and mental issues were not flagged.
For most local shoppers, the issues tend to be more like hiccups.
In the best-case scenario, the purchase is approved after a few days; in the worst case, the holiday clatter in the front yard might be the arrival of agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“Not all denials automatically initiate someone coming to your house, but some do,” said Meredith Davis, special agent and public information officer with the Dallas ATF field division. “If we see, for example, someone continuing to apply and receive multiple denials, that is going to trigger additional investigation.”
Three things can happen at the point of purchase. The sale may be approved immediately, it may be denied immediately, or it may be put on hold for three days, after which the seller has the option to let the firearm go.
“Just because the sale is allowed to proceed after three days, that doesn’t mean the background check stops,” Davis said. “If they ultimately do not pass, they will have to surrender that firearm.”
She also warned that, with gift-giving in mind, it is illegal for a person to use their name and clean record to purchase a firearm for a person who is prohibited from owning one if the buyer is aware of their restricted status.
“That’s called a ‘straw purchase’ and, yes, that is against the law,” Davis said.
Davis and Edwards both emphasized that a store clerk or shop owner cannot help in the case of denial or a purchase put on hold.
“They aren’t given a reason why it’s denied or on hold, only that it is,” Edwards said. “We have a pamphlet we can give people that tells them who to contact to find out why or how to appeal.”
Davis said there are a number of reasons for mix-ups or misunderstandings. Sometimes people convicted of a felony in their youth think enough time has passed that it is no longer on their record.
“Reasons for denials or holds vary from people who have been convicted of felonies to someone’s name is Joe Smith and there are 3,000 other Joe Smiths and one who has been convicted of a felony happens to share your birth date,” Davis said. “Unfortunately, that does happen at times with people who have common names.”
Mix-ups typically are solved in a few days with the sale put on hold, or if it’s a more complicated situation it must be handled through an appeal. The process can be lengthy because it begins with the FBI and then is turned over to the ATF.
The FBI’s NICS Appeal Form is available on its website.
“We do have a branch that is dedicated to appeals and denials,” Davis said.
To be absolutely clear, the vast majority of shoppers who purchase guns do so without raising a flag and without a hitch. Edwards said the past month has been incredibly busy at his counter, and his numbers show 87 percent of background checks went through without a problem.
“The other 13 percent fall in that category with a delay and a majority of those will proceed as well,” he said. “Still, most people know when they apply if they’re going to pass or not.”
