Posted on 03/12/2018 6:49:32 AM PDT by Ennis85
Recent mass shootings have spurred Congress to try to improve the nation's gun background check system that has failed on numerous occasions to keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.
The problem with the legislation, experts say, is that it only works if federal agencies, the military, states, courts and local law enforcement do a better job of sharing information with the background check system — and they have a poor track record in doing so. Some of the nation's most horrific mass shootings have revealed major holes in the database reporting system, including massacres at Virginia Tech in 2007 and at a Texas church last year.
Despite the failures, many states still aren't meeting key benchmarks with their background check reporting that enable them to receive federal grants similar to what's being proposed in the current legislation.
"It's a completely haphazard system — sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't," said Georgetown University law professor Larry Gostin. "When you're talking about school children's lives, rolling the dice isn't good enough."
In theory, the FBI's background check database, tapped by gun dealers during a sale, should have a definitive list of people who are prohibited from having guns — people who have been convicted of crimes, committed to mental institutions, received dishonorable discharges or are addicted to drugs.
But in practice, the database is incomplete.
It's up to local police, sheriff's offices, the military, federal and state courts, Indian tribes and in some places, hospitals and treatment providers, to send criminal or mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, but some don't always do so, or they may not send them in a timely fashion.
Some agencies don't know what to send; states often lack funds needed to ensure someone handles the data;
(Excerpt) Read more at wacotrib.com ...
Not surprising. I recall reading in David Kopel’s book “The Samurai, The Mountie, and The Cowboy” (that dealt with the gun controls of other democracies and whether the United States should adopt them) in the chapter that dealt with Australia and it’s discussion of a 1980s audit of the state of Victoria’s gun registry. The audit contained a comment to the effect about how the registry was “an elaborate system of mathematics with no tangible aim” and revealed an error riddled system that by that time would be estimated take many thousands of police man hours to correct. Seems to be a similar situation described in the article here.
And if, as a matter of policy the progressive left doesn’t let teen offenders be charged and convicted of crimes, what effect will a reform of the NICS do any good> The formal agreement to “break the school to jail pipeline” set the stage for this massacre.
Yes. That is what is known as an "unfunded mandate". The feds regularly do it to states and the states regularly do it to localities.
It's become an American political tradition for our governments to adopt legislation without providing funding for implementation and enforcement - particularly if the proposed law is of the "feel good" variety, and especially if it is "for the children". After all they've got to "do something", right?
My copy of the second amendment to the Constitution does not preclude any of the above from the right to keep and bear arms. If they shouldn't be armed, they should not be running around loose!
Exactly. Its primary purpose is gun registration.
when do we start running background checks on journalists? Many of them are mentally unstable left wing loons that should never be allowed to exercise freedom of the press.
Easy - add background check funding contingent on states fully cooperating with ICE. Aren’t illegals prohibited purchasers?
The system is a joke anyway. Once I ordered a rifle from CMP. The background check came back as a ‘Hold.’ That was odd because I had just ordered another rifle a couple of months prior and that check had gone through quickly.
Looking at my paperwork for both orders, I saw I hadn’t put my SS# on the second order. (It’s not a requirement.) The only possible answer, other than incompetence, is that my name must have been similar to some prohibited buyer. I say similar because my first, middle, and last names are a bit unusual. I can almost guarantee you nobody has ever had that trifecta of unusual names.
So, I got a ‘Hold’ because my name was vaguely similar to a prohibited buyer. Some system. The ‘Hold’ was finally released, but I may have missed out on a bargain. I’m sure the lefties counted that ‘Hold’ as a successful use of the system.
Always excuses from liberals. Oh wait - its all the NRA’s fault!
Yup.
A lot of these proposals are merely symbolic in nature and have no real funding behind them to get things done.
Like the gun background check system. No wonder its a joke.
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