FBI Background Check Gap

On July 8, 2022, NBC News reported in an article, “The FBI didn’t Finish over 1 million Gun Background Checks in time to Stop a Sale in 2020 and 2021”, which indicate the uncompleted background checks took longer than three days to complete. The article further indicated, “The FBI never completed 734,604 checks from January 2020 through November 2021, the most recent data available, because they took longer than 88 days”. What does all this mean and is this a significant issue? Let’s start by looking at some numbers and additional foundational data before we can decide what this really means.

How many total background checks were completed in 2021? On January 22, 2022, 1945.com in an article “38 million Background Checks: Gun Sales Were Near Record Highs in 2021”. The article indicated that 38,876,673 background checks were conducted in 2021, and 39,696,315 in 2020. Additionally, the article indicated, “Sine launching in 1998, more than 300 million checks have been done, leading to more than 1.5 million denials.” Another interesting point found in the article, “The FBI’s NICS provides full service to the FFLs in 30 states and five U.S. territories, as well as the District of Columbia. In addition, the NICS provides partial service to seven states, while the remaining 13 states perform their own checks through the NICS.” I wonder how many of the 13 states didn’t complete their background checks in required three-day time frame.

What is the purpose of completing a gun background check before releasing a firearm to

the purchaser? The purpose of a background check is to ensure that those individuals who are prohibited from possessing or purchasing a firearm cannot receive the firearm. The reasons include that the person attempting to purchase the firearm falls into one of these categories: Felon, fugitive from justice, domestic abuser, drug addiction, renounced U.S. citizenship, mentally ill, received a restraining order for stalking, dishonorably discharged from the military, or a non-U.S. citizen. For additional details please check out the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) website. www.atf.gov

Let’s circle back to the NBC article. The article indicated a total of 11,564 individuals were able to purchase guns that fell into one of the above nine prohibited categories. Compared to the over 78 million background checks in two years this is an extremely small amount until this gap in the system is further explained. Everytownrearch.org published an article, “Five Things to Know About Crime Guns, Gun Trafficking, and Background Checks”, which indicated, “At least 528,800 recovered guns were likely purchased with the intent to use them in a crime”. Additionally, the crime was carried out within three years of the purchase. Another important consideration in the article, “Nearly 80 percent of likely-trafficked crime guns came from states without background check laws”.

Finally, of the 11,564 individuals who received their guns without completing a background, there is no breakdown from which of the nine prohibited categories of firearms purchases the individual would be classified. Further, there is no report that identifies how many individuals participated in criminal activities, such as robberies, gang related activities, or drug deals. There is no report that indicated have many of the 11,564 individuals committed suicide or used the firearm in an active shooter or mass shooter attack.

What are your thoughts of the FBI’s failure to complete all background checks in the required three-day waiting period? Remember during your response that the FBI background check process does not include personal sales, family transfers, gifting, trusts, online sales (non-FFL involvement), or convention sales of firearms. Finally, can you think of a better way to verify who purchases firearms in the U.S.?