So overwhelmed are NICS examiners with the Great Obama Gun Rush, they are apparently considering suspending appeals for people who are denied (there’s an instant play ad for me on the link, so beware):
The surge of criminal background checks required of new gun purchasers has been so unrelenting in recent months that the FBI had been forced to temporarily halt the processing of thousands of appeals from prospective buyers whose firearm purchase attempts have been denied.
I’d argue there are serious constitutional implications with something like this, that is there should be if the courts were willing to take the right seriously, which they aren’t, so it’s a moot point.
But it’s interesting that Obama Panic is driving so many gun sales that we’re breaking the system. The article goes on to describe the woes of the NICS system, which relies on voluntary compliance from the states. The article implies that the overload currently being experienced contributed to the Charleston mass murderer (we don’t give these bozos the infamy they seek by naming them) slipping through the system.
During the background check, [racist murdering asshole]’s March arrest on felony drug charges was mistakenly attributed to the Lexington County, S.C., Sheriff’s Department, not the Columbia, S.C., Police Department, which actually made the arrest. The sheriff’s department operates the jail where [the murderer] had been detained.
The Columbia police report included information that [the dope smoking murderer] admitted to drug possession, which would have triggered an immediate denial by NICS, according to bureau guidelines. But that information was never seen by the reviewer because the FBI’s database did not include Columbia police contacts in its list of agency contacts for Lexington County purchase reviews. The reviewer did attempt to reach the Lexington County prosecutor’s office, which was handling the drug case at the time, but received no response.
The gun control folks are now making a push to end “default proceeds.” Essentially the FBI has three days to complete the check and make a determination of status. If the FBI fails to issue a denial or a proceed, the dealer is permitted to go ahead with the sale after three days. In the case of our racist, doped up murder boy here, the dealer waiting five days.
Default proceeds are intended to protect the rights of the public from the government being able to shut down all gun sales through either being unwilling or unable to process the background checks. Imagine, for instance, a Carrington level event, or some other natural or manmade disaster, which takes down large portions of our telecommunication systems, with NICS down and unreachable. You might want a gun in that kind of SHTF scenario? Under the existing system, sales could still proceed after three days. Under the system the gun control proponents propose, all legal guns sales would be shut down. Default proceed is non-negotiable, and a system that would shut down all gun sales in a serious national emergency ought to be unconstitutional.
“The reviewer did attempt to reach the Lexington County prosecutor’s office, which was handling the drug case at the time, but received no response.”
They had three days to get in contact with them before the sale. This isn’t 1805. Telephone, email hell call the local FBI field office and have them send an agent over to ASK.
Even then, the investigation can go on beyond the 3 days. The guy didn’t shoot up the church till MONTHS after the sale.
And shocker of shockers we can’t get anyone to talk about why the FBI didn’t do their damn jobs.
Right, even if it was after the three day period, that doesn’t mean they should stop investigating.
It is quite concerning that they can just stop appeals.
How does this affect us in PA since we use PICS? Its a totally separate process, right?
PICS is the state Point-of-Contact (POC), and it is a separate system from NICS. But I believe PICS will reference NICS data. To be honest, I’m not 100% sure how PICS interacts with federal records, or whether the absence of a federal link will bring PICS down as well.
Ha! You don’t even need a Carrington-level type of event. You just need an administration willing to sit on its hands to deny you the RKBA. Just ask CA how their “may-issue” permits are working out for them.
Yeah, I’m not worried about a catastrophe that would come close to toppling modern civilization, or at least make things extremely awful for a year or two.
I’m a lot more worried about a Congress or Executive that can just tell NICS to stop doing anything on a whim.
Yup. All you need is a hostile congress/president that defunds NICS, just like they defunded the process to register new machine guns.
or take a look at MD prior to the ban in 2013. absolutely absurd waits would have been taking place prior to release if not for the default proceeds.
Actually, to amplify on my reply above, in a Carrington Level Event, nobody’s selling you a gun anyway unless you have cash and they have paperwork (or they’re willing to just ignore the law, which is possible – blame rioters later).
Because I guarantee you such an event is going to bork the credit processing system just as hard as it borks NICS.
(And, indeed, even if you have cash, you might find it hard to get someone to take it; if they don’t wanna Follow Procedure, they might just be looting or looted.
And if they do, well, so many people are all-electronic for sales and compliance that they won’t be able to if all the electronics are dead.
So, no, don’t worry about a Carrington event; if you are, buy a gun now.)
“A Right Delayed is a Right Denied” wasn’t this decided back in the 60’s ?
As far as I know, that’s a quote from Martin Luther King, not a court case.
Its not a natural disaster that the default proceed is designed to protect us from. It is the same congessional-budget-BS that had the department of the interior closing non-staffed monuments and parks solely to make people angry while the fools in DC played games.
Default proceed means even if DC self destructs and locks out all government workers, we can still purchase arms to protect our lives and property.
So basically if Obama or the next Dem tells the ATF to cut IT funding (turn off some of those servers) and remove NICS phone operators, everyone is SOL.
No natural disaster required. Just a small shift in funding.
The BATFE doesn’t run NICS. That is the job of the FBI.
NICS Check just denied .. I’m also a C&R holder .. ??