The document discusses gun control laws and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). It argues that while the government claims to want to keep guns out of criminals' hands, the NICS has not been fully implemented even 20 years after its creation. Key problems include states failing to report all relevant records to the FBI database and a lack of federal law requiring complete reporting. The document calls for fully funding the system, adding records, and enforcing existing laws to strengthen background checks rather than just talking about the issues.

1. Government and Gun Control
Is The Federal Government Really Concerned About Crime Prevention?
FYS100-207
Jerry Kitchen
Something is wrong with the picture that has been and is being presented to the American
people. The Federal Government would like us to believe that they are trying to keep guns out of the
hands of criminals while at the same time protect our rights under the Second Amendment of the
Constitution. Various legislative proposals are paraded before our eyes, politicians spout pro or con
rhetoric, but in reality twenty years have passed since the Brady Act was implemented, but we have yet
to see it work as designed.
Beginning with the Gun Control Act of 1968, certain individuals have been prohibited from
possessing firearms under Federal law. Until the Brady Act, there was no system of prevention. The
Brady Act required background checks on purchasers acquiring firearms from a licensed Federal
Firearms Licensees, FFLS. Implementation was in two phases. Phase one began on 2/28/1994, and phase
two began on 11/30/1998. During phase one, the Brady Act applied to handgun sales only, with
background checks conducted by state and local law enforcement .Phase two included both handguns
and long guns. As there was no centralized mechanism for firearm background checks, the Brady Act
relied on the willingness of these officials to conduct the checks .A maximum of five business days was
given to do so. It also required the Attorney General of the US to develop a national instant check
system within five years. The NICS concept uses a background check of databases at both state and
national levels. Three different databases are used at the national level and are managed by the FBI.
After running a person’s name and information through the system, anyone prohibited from purchasing
a firearm is denied, the FFL dealer is informed, and the sale does not occur.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is responsible for enforcement of firearm
regulations, The ATF regulations of the NICS establish procedures and policies to be used when
conducting background checks on purchasers. The process seems simple, so why are some purchasers
who should be excluded under the law slipping through the cracks? The process is not difficult or
ineffective. It is the failure of the regulation to mandate that state and local law enforcement contribute
records to the NICS index that is the problem. The regulation states that the information to be searched

2. “during a background check has been or will be contributed voluntarily by Federal, State, local, and
international criminal justice agencies.” The FBI also lacks access to some state mental health records to
use when conducting these checks. The NICS Improvement Amendment Act of 2007 was intended to
strengthen and increase the quality and quantity of relevant records that were accessible by the system.
However, complete reporting depends upon state law. Twenty four states have either submitted
incomplete date, or failed to supply any at all to the FBI. Without federal law requiring states to report
ineligible purchaser information for entry into a national database, the NICS system will remain
incomplete.
Enough already! Why do we have all the posturing, speeches, smoke and mirrors? Twenty years
is surely enough time to supply sufficient funding to build a database that will allow the NICS system to
be fully implemented. The FBI has thousands of criminal records that have not been added to the
system. If we can give money to countries that hate us and want to see America fall, we can redirect
that funding to changing our priorities. Twenty years is time enough to overcome the objections to the
availability of mental health records. It has also been time enough to take care of the lack of prosecution
of those who have been denied firearms purchase under the NICS. Talk is cheap, or is it? It seems as
though all of the talk without action has cost us a lot. Why don’t we stop talking and start doing
something instead. Let’s enforce our existing laws while strengthening them as needed. And we can
start with a Federal law that requires states to report relevant information, as well as requiring the
Federal government to enforce the laws that we already have fully and completely.

3. WORKS CITED
“Preventing Illegal Transactions.” Congressional Digest 78.11 (1999): 260. Military & Government
Collection. Web. 4 Mar. 2014
Sterzer, Jason “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.” Journal Of Legal Medicine 33.1 (2012): 171-199.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Mar. 2014
Obama, Barack “Memorandum On Improving Availability Of Relevant Executive Branch Records To The
National Instant Criminal Background Check System.” Daily Compilation Of Presidential Documents
(2013): 1-4. Military & Government Collection. Web. 4 Mar. 2014