Posted on 11/26/2014 4:04:14 AM PST by rellimpank
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (AP) - Black Friday isn't just when shoppers rush to stores for holiday sales. It's also one of the busiest days of the year for gun purchases.
In the U.S., there are nine guns for every 10 people. Someone is killed with a firearm every 16 minutes. And every minute, gun shops make about 40 new requests for criminal background checks on people wanting weapons.
On Black Friday, the rush accelerates to nearly two checks a second, testing the limits of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
"We have a perfect storm coming," says Kimberly Del Greco, a manager in the FBI division that helps run the system, known as NICS.
Much of the responsibility for preventing criminals and the mentally ill from buying guns is shouldered by about 500 men and women who run the system from inside the FBI's criminal justice center, a gray office building with concrete walls and mirrored windows just outside Bridgeport, West Virginia.
Granted a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the NICS, The Associated Press was able to see first-hand why 512 gun sales a day effectively beat the system last year.
By federal law, NICS researchers must race against the clock: They have until the end of the third business day following an attempted firearm purchase to determine whether or not a buyer is eligible. After that, buyers can legally get their guns, whether or not the check was completed.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
I’ve worked at the FBI Datacenter. Managers get in SERIOUS crap if the AVERAGE response goes over 30 seconds...
Me, too. I don't put my SSN on the form, either, because there's only one of me in the entire U.S. of A. with my exact name.
I have a buddy who supplies his SSN, because there are thousands of him, and it still takes 30 minutes for his to come back on a busy day.
I bought a Mossberg 500 at MC Sports in Grand Rapids a few years ago. It was at least $100 cheaper than other places.
Which MC in GR? We have one in my town but I’ve never seen firearms there.
That’s the one I’m looking at. Thanks!
28th Street east of 37
My pleasure. Mine has the ghost ring sights which I like a lot. The model number is 500A. Just put 20 slugs through it today. Shoots like a dream. Though it does have some substantial recoil with 3” magnum slugs.
Happy Thanskgiving.
Thanks! Know that location quite well.
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