A little info on background checks, how they work, cost, and mental issues
The NICS system is linked to several databases managed by the FBI, including the National Crime Information Center, and runs an individual's name through federal and state criminal records.
CNN Poll: Background checks popular, worrisome
Individuals can also be added to the NICS index outside of potential gun sales, on the recommendation of psychiatrists, mental health institutions and family members.
Under the current NICS system, buyers may be denied the purchase of a firearm for reasons such as being indicted or convicted of a felony, admitting to being addicted to a controlled substances, having been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces, being subject to a restraining order, as well as other regulations.
Since its implementation in 1998, 2.1 million background checks have been denied out of 118 million requests, or almost 2%.
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The current system cannot force states to share all of their records with the NICS database, especially ones regarding mental health. This lack of records allows some people with mental issues to legally purchase guns.
Seung-Hui Cho, the shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, had been declared mentally ill by a judge two years before he murdered 32 people. But Cho had gone through a background check and been cleared.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/10/politics/background-checks-explainer
140 Million Checks and Counting
On December 17, 2011, NICS’ staff processed its 140 millionth firearms background check. The transaction was an immediate proceed for a long gun purchase out of Paris, Arkansas. This is a significant milestone in the system’s history since its beginning in 1998.
NICS Index on the Rise
In January 2008, Congress signed the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NIAA), which authorized the Attorney General to obtain electronic versions of information on individuals disqualified by federal law from purchasing or possessing firearms; that information is stored in the NICS Index for use in determining eligibility to purchase firearms. (The NICS Index contains information on individuals who are prohibited from possessing a firearm when disqualifying information may not be available through the National Crime Information Center or the Interstate Identification Index.) The NIAA also required the Attorney General to establish regulations and procedures to protect the privacy of records submitted to the NICS, through consultations with state and mental health agencies regarding the adequacy of proposed regulations.
Since the NIAA was signed into law in January 2008, statistical totals for all NICS Index categories have more than doubled. From January 31, 2008, to December 31, 2011, state entry totals in the NICS Index increased from 1,090,099 to 2,289,386. State mental health entries in the NICS Index saw a similar increase from 405,761 to 1,218,156 for the same time period.
One of the biggest hurdles to states submitting records to the NICS Index is state laws that prohibit sharing mental health information. However, states are required to make this information available if they wish to obtain grant funding through the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP). The state of Oregon received NARIP funding in 2009 and 2010, using the $770,849 and $2 million, respectively, to update criminal history records and automate systems to achieve NICS Index participation and share disqualifying mental health information. During the last few days of 2011, Oregon submitted 24,729 mental health entries to the NICS Index.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/cjis-link/march-2012/nics-hits-record-days-as-index-continues-to-rise
BUFORD: In California, the courts are required to send that information to us electronically and, in some cases, on paper. We take that information. We upload it to our California system, and then the California system also feeds into the federal system.
CORNISH: And over time, we've heard about several obstacles that some states may have in terms of keeping their databases current. For instance, mental health records. Now, California had had a central records keeping for mental health records since 1991. But it took you guys more than a decade to actually start sending those to the federal government. What were some of the obstacles and what do you think other states are facing?
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CORNISH: Another obstacle states have discussed is in terms of getting up-to-speed, they might want help or grant money from the federal government. And yet, because of the gun restoration policy, this is the policy that allows people who have been blocked because of mental health records, to have their gun rights reinstated. Some states have - that's actually been an impediment to them applying for funding. Can you talk about why that is?
BUFORD: A little bit, you know. I think the big issue there is, you know, who bears the burden of implementing and maintaining that restitution program? The grant monies that the feds have placed out there for these particular programs just aren't sufficient enough to fund the program. So there has to be a sufficient, you know, you can't just lay it out there and say, go implement this program. There has to be sufficient funding and it can't be small amounts of funding. It has to be sufficient to fund the entire program.
BUFORD: There are some gaps in the system, but I'd rather have the system with the gaps than no system at all, no federal system at all. You know, we use federal records all the time to deny people the legal and lawful aliens, you know, here illegally and unlawfully, they could be criminals. We use it to deny people that are mental defectives in other states and people that are under restraining orders.
So I think it's important to have that information regardless of the gaps. I think we should focus on how do we build that system out, how do we eliminate those gaps. That's where the discussion should start at is eliminating the gaps, providing sufficient funding for all states to contribute and participate. I think that's the best thing that we can do as a nation, you know, and as a people.
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/14/169363285/gun-background-check-system-lacks-money-state-compliance
Majority of Gun Dealers Haven’t been Inspected in Last 5 Years
Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, told USA Today that ATF has “an appalling lack of resources” to do its job.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022772542
You can pass all the laws you want, but without funding - across all the states and at federal level, they won't do a lot.
Let's say you close the gun show loophole and private sales when it comes to doing background checks. Where is the money to enforce that when you don't even have enough now to enforce the ones you have and keep your systems updated and funding to states to keep their records working? Most gun dealers have not even been inspected in the last 5 years.
