Hope this hasn't already been posted:
from abcnews.com:
"y using fictitious identities, undercover investigators bypassed entirely the criminal background check system," says an executive summary of a Government Accounting Office report to be released today.
The GAO document details an investigation of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), in which GAO agents attempted to use false identifications to buy firearms from licensed dealers in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Virginia and West Virginia.
"Their success rate was 100 percent," according to Democrats on the House Government Affairs Committee, who were set to hold a briefing on the matter today.
The results of the investigation cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Brady Act — the landmark gun control legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by then-President Clinton in 1993.
Under the Brady bill, gun dealers are required to contact the NICS — a computerized system developed and run by the FBI prior to every sale. The system then checks the name of the prospective purchaser against a database of the names of people legally prohibited from owning firearms — including convicted felons, illegal aliens, people dishonorably discharged from the military and people with mental defects.
But the system has no way of verifying that the name provided by the buyer is actually theirs. That gaping loophole allowed the undercover agents to use fake names to obtain handguns and rifles, including semi-automatic weapons with high capacity magazines.
"In no instance did NICS background checks detect that the GAO agents were using false identifications," the summary says, "and in no instance did a gun dealer refrain from selling weapons to the agents."
Prior Problems
Today is not the first time serious deficiencies with the now 2 *-year-old system have been exposed.
NICS went online in November, 1998. During its first eighteen months of implementation, 6,084 people who were legally barred from owning guns were able to obtain firearms because the FBI failed to complete their background checks within a three-day timeframe as specified by law, according to the testimony of then-FBI Assistant Director David Loesch before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Under a provision of the Brady bill, if a buyer's record is not checked within three business days, the sale is allowed to proceed by default.
In the five states targeted by the GAO investigation, NICS is the only background check system in place. GAO operation only investigated dealers in five states. Many other states, however, have imposed additional, more stringent safeguards such as fingerprinting or requiring the approval of all gun license applications by local police officials.
GAO officials were expected to present the complete results of the investigation, including an undercover videotape, at a briefing on Capitol Hill this morning. Representatives from both the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence — a leading gun control advocacy group — and the National Rifle Association were also invited to speak at the forum.
from abcnews.com:
"y using fictitious identities, undercover investigators bypassed entirely the criminal background check system," says an executive summary of a Government Accounting Office report to be released today.
The GAO document details an investigation of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), in which GAO agents attempted to use false identifications to buy firearms from licensed dealers in Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Virginia and West Virginia.
"Their success rate was 100 percent," according to Democrats on the House Government Affairs Committee, who were set to hold a briefing on the matter today.
The results of the investigation cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Brady Act — the landmark gun control legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by then-President Clinton in 1993.
Under the Brady bill, gun dealers are required to contact the NICS — a computerized system developed and run by the FBI prior to every sale. The system then checks the name of the prospective purchaser against a database of the names of people legally prohibited from owning firearms — including convicted felons, illegal aliens, people dishonorably discharged from the military and people with mental defects.
But the system has no way of verifying that the name provided by the buyer is actually theirs. That gaping loophole allowed the undercover agents to use fake names to obtain handguns and rifles, including semi-automatic weapons with high capacity magazines.
"In no instance did NICS background checks detect that the GAO agents were using false identifications," the summary says, "and in no instance did a gun dealer refrain from selling weapons to the agents."
Prior Problems
Today is not the first time serious deficiencies with the now 2 *-year-old system have been exposed.
NICS went online in November, 1998. During its first eighteen months of implementation, 6,084 people who were legally barred from owning guns were able to obtain firearms because the FBI failed to complete their background checks within a three-day timeframe as specified by law, according to the testimony of then-FBI Assistant Director David Loesch before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Under a provision of the Brady bill, if a buyer's record is not checked within three business days, the sale is allowed to proceed by default.
In the five states targeted by the GAO investigation, NICS is the only background check system in place. GAO operation only investigated dealers in five states. Many other states, however, have imposed additional, more stringent safeguards such as fingerprinting or requiring the approval of all gun license applications by local police officials.
GAO officials were expected to present the complete results of the investigation, including an undercover videotape, at a briefing on Capitol Hill this morning. Representatives from both the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence — a leading gun control advocacy group — and the National Rifle Association were also invited to speak at the forum.
