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FBI eyes gun check system
 The FBI is preparing a massive survey of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), to develop ways it can better protect citizens from illegal weapons sales and use.
The background check system was launched by the FBI as part of its mandate under the Brady Act in 1993.
The survey now underway is expected to draw more than 6,000 responses, including federally licensed arms dealers, gun owners and government agencies. It is expected to provide the FBI and other federal agencies with an up-to-date profile of how the program is functioning, and what needs improvement.
The NICS program, vociferously opposed by the National Rifle Association and other gun lobbyists, has been hailed by law enforcement agencies at both the federal and state levels, as an efficient means to screen gun buyers.
“It has been a huge success,” says John Shanks, director of law enforcement relations at the Washington, DC-based Brady Center. “It is quick and easy. All a dealer has to do is dial an 800 number.”
The NICS is a national system that checks available records on persons who may be disqualified from receiving firearms. The FBI developed the system in cooperation with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and local and state law enforcement agencies. Accessible by phone or computer, the NICS is a computerized background check system designed to respond within 30 seconds to most background check inquiries.
According to the most recent FBI statistics, a total of 53,107,772 background checks have been conducted through the NICS since its inception. Of these, about 27 million were processed by the NICS Section and 26.1 million were processed by the NICS Point-of-Contact (POC) states. Of those totals, 1.4 percent of applications were denied.
According to Gerard Ramker, chief of the Department of Justice’s criminal history improvement programs, the effectiveness of the NICS program reflects the increased computerization of criminal records. Ramker reported that since 1995 criminal records accessible for background checks have increased 83 percent and the growth rate in automated records was 57 percent.
Gun control advocates say the system suffers from two flaws: it only applies to federally licensed dealers, and the range of weapons is still limited to handguns.
As an anti-terror tool, many law enforcement officials regard the NICS system as a proven preventive step -- a first line of defense.
Ironically, Congress has weakened the data gathering functions of the system, under pressure from an unusual alliance of the NRA and the American Civil Liberties Union, so that any information related to individuals is now held for only a 24-hour period.
“Background check information should be held as a matter of national security,” said Shanks. “As it is now, a person who is on the terrorist watch list might not be able to board a plane, but he or she could go into a federally-licensed gun dealer and immediately buy an AK-47.”
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