30 Day Background Check

[MarvB]

@wllm1313 I’m no techy (I’m a descendent of the hanging Chad era) and I get that budgets do what budgets do but 30days? That’s a long way from nearly instantaneous. I’ve never needed a firearm quickly either myself, more prone to analysis paralysis when making those type decisions. But again, what database system is TSA checking on in this age of terrorism that allows me on a plane full of people miles in the air with a swipe of my drivers license? Seems like there would be something in between instant and a month? Dunno but....

 

[mplane72]

I'm in favor of background checks but 30 days is far to long to make a citizen wait for their constitutional right. The left wants to make it harder to exercise one the right wants to make it harder to exercise another.... It's all a big pile of chit.

 

[utah400elk]

An abusive ex boyfriend, etc has threatened a woman. She gets a restraining order, but the ex still seems to be a threat. She attempts to purchase a gun, but has to wait 30 days. That’s along time to wait to be able to defend yourself against a bigger, stronger attacker.

This would not be the case. She could get the gun as quick as state law allows as long as she is not prohibited. The 30 days would only apply to NICS delays.

 

[Salmonchaser]

None of the bills I’ve bothered to look at do anything to improve reporting on those adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others. I’ll qualify by pointing out Ive been retired for 10 years, so the Mental Health Professionals may be doing more now. Before I retired mental emotional calls were routine. If the subject posed a threat to themselves or others we put them in an ambulance and sent them to the MHPs. Most of the time, even folks who had been sucking on a gun barrel when we arrived, where knocking on the door before the end of shift wanting their gun back. In 20 years dealing with some truly unfortunate people I actually testified only twice as to what we witnessed. Every one of those folks we sent to the MHPs was eligible to buy a gun if they hadn’t been adjudicated mentally incompetent/danger to themselves and others. That my friends is scary shit.

 

[Bluffgruff]

I suggest we fix the system instead of accepting the status quo and just adding more delay, which can negatively affect people who might need access to firearms quickly.

This will be largely unpopular here, but I see no legitimate reason for "access to firearms quickly" that ends well for us as a nation. The attitude itself is the problem. Bear spray works on people too. I would be upset if I had to wait 30 days to buy bear spray, but not guns.

 

[Nick87]

This will be largely unpopular here, but I see no legitimate reason for "access to firearms quickly" that ends well for us as a nation. The attitude itself is the problem. Bear spray works on people too. I would be upset if I had to wait 30 days to buy bear spray, but not guns.

Hopefully the examples given in post #9 all approach there victims down wind.

 

[jt13]

If there's a legitimate reason for the delayed background check such as additional information being gathered and processed then I understand. However, just bogging down the system to inconvenience gun buyers ain't cool. Government moves slow enough all on it's own, we dont need legislation covering it in molasses for no reason.

 

[3855WIN]

This would not be the case. She could get the gun as quick as state law allows as long as she is not prohibited. The 30 days would only apply to NICS delays.

It’s already happened. I’m not following your logic.

 

[3855WIN]

This will be largely unpopular here, but I see no legitimate reason for "access to firearms quickly" that ends well for us as a nation. The attitude itself is the problem. Bear spray works on people too. I would be upset if I had to wait 30 days to buy bear spray, but not guns.

It’s anti-hunting. Look at Wlm3113 and his wait.

 

[gouch]

I'm an old fart who mostly just gets frustrated trying to do internet searches, so does anyone have a link the actual bill? This discussion was started with a twitter post. Twitter post don't tend to be the most reliable sources.

 

[utah400elk]

NJ gun law prohibited her from getting the firearm...not NICS.

 

[4ohSick]

If there's a legitimate reason for the delayed background check such as additional information being gathered and processed then I understand. However, just bogging down the system to inconvenience gun buyers ain't cool. Government moves slow enough all on it's own, we dont need legislation covering it in molasses for no reason.

The issue with the current system is this: in cases where there is a legitimate reason for the delayed background check, after 3 days that person can purchase the gun. As stated earlier, the result is a bunch of people who shouldn't have guns that do have guns, and LEO's putting themselves in harms way to confiscate them. It seems like the majority believes this will turn every gun purchase into a 30-day wait, but that's absolutely not the case. The vast majority of gun purchases will be approved instantly, just like they are now.

All that being said, I could see the reasoning that 30 days is excessive. Would 14 be acceptable? Or 7?

 

[ChaosOneZero]

What argument helps the 30 day background check? Serious question

I’m playing devil’s advocate here, not taking a stance one way or another.

Only reason I can think of, off the top of my head, is accounting for the updating timeline of/for criminal records. That is, accused criminal gets arrested and charged for a crime that will prohibit them from owning a firearm, so aforementioned accused uses the time between being arrested and charged to go and buy a firearm, before NICS and other local/state systems can be updated to flag him/her. I don’t know the intricacies of or when NICS is updated (when arrested? When charged? When convicted?), but I don’t know what other argument would be make in support of the 30 days timeline.

 

[hank4elk]

I think 2 weeks is not unreasoable,a month is if there are not extenuating circumstances.
The problem I see is gov. agencies without interagency fluidity regarding a fairly simple ?
Is there a questionable record?

The last time I went thru a weapons check for a purchase,it took 10 min. FBI.
I went thru a Lifescan check,15 yrs ago. FBI,NICS,INTERPOL and NCIS for good measure. 1/2 hr wait after a placing of my palm. Clear.
Took me a week to get app. tho.

 

[Pmacc60]

I am intimately familiar with this tactic, in my mind there is disputing it exists.

Took me, 9 months from start to finish to get a license to posses a firearm in the state of MA. Whole pile of hoops and BS that seemed explicitly designed to discourage folks from exercising their rights.

Let me ask you a question, what is the upside. Right now in the state of Maryland they can come to my house and take any gun they want if I’m now no longer legally able to have that firearm. So I guess I need to know if I’m gonna have to wait 30 days to get the firearm that I purchased legally then what am I helping with this law. Who benefits?

 

[beginnerhunter]

From what I understand, if they currently cannot complete the background check within 3 days, you get the gun but they STILL continue to investigate you. I'd be fine moving it to 1 week. But at some point, really, this is about moving to a "may issue" system rather than a "shall issue" system we currently have. 30 days-90 days-1 year-maybe never.

And slippery slope arguments are not ALWAYS fallacious. There is plausibility here.

 

[FLS]

I would say it’s a bad idea in part because of who introduced it. A career politician from a gerrymandered district that has done NOTHING to improve the lives of his constituents while simultaneously exponentially increasing his and his family’s wealth in one of the poorest regions of South Carolina. He is the embodiment of what’s wrong in Washington.
Second it’s a bad idea because there is nothing wrong with the current system other than typical govt bureaucracy. There are more than enough laws on the books. IF the politicians actually cared about ending gun violence they would cease looking for bandaid fixes and start addressing to root causes. A prime example of the feckless impotent leadership we get from these career leeches.

 

[longbow51]

I know I will get roasted on this but...

For what its worth, a 30 day extension would not hurt the vast majority of people. Their NICS would still be instantaneous and they would get their firearm the same day (if state law allowed). Well over 100k a year a prohibited person fills out the paper work and the NICS system is delayed. After three days, the firearm is transferred to that person. Once the NICS check comes back and shows they are prohibited then LE has to go retrieve the gun. These NICS retrieval’s can be very dangerous and are often very contentious encounters with armed individuals. Again, over 100K a year law enforcement has to retrieve these firearms. This is a substantial resource drain for LE at every level.

I am not advocating for this just explaining...carry on.

What are the fines/jail terms for a prohibited person trying to buy a gun? Why not punish the person rather than give another faceless agency more power to do whatever they wish to slow gun sales? The track record on transparency of our alphabet agencies hasn't been stellar.

 

[longbow51]

Hopefully the examples given in post #9 all approach there victims down wind.

Just pass a law to that effect; that'll fix it.

 

[LuketheDog]

DMV, Passport office, applying for hunting licenses.

Have you ever checked your county or state clerk's office for records?

A substantial portion of my career has been in building databases and then extracting records from them. I can't tell you how the NICS database works, but I can tell you that building a system that manages 30,000 lessors for companies is a chore.

I've built a few databases for quick property searches, every commercial and industrial zoned property in a city of 150,000, it was an absolute chore. But I bet for the amount of money spent on anti- and pro-2A lobbying, marketing, and general BS-ing about gun control in a given year, our wonderful government could build that better system for background checks...I really don't think that's the end game though.