FBI ordered to increase immediate response time to 90%

U. S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Immigration and Naturalization Service to improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System’s (NICS) ability to prevent aliens from purchasing guns in violation of federal law and to prosecute those who attempt to obtain guns illegally.

Although federal law prohibits aliens who are illegally or unlawfully in the United States from purchasing guns, the NICS system since its inception in 1998 has not adequately determined whether alien gun purchasers are in the country legally. Under the new directive, the INS will review the records of all non-citizen gun purchasers to determine their immigration status, enabling NICS to better determine whether the purchaser is a prohibited alien while providing firearms dealers with an immediate answer.

Next, the Attorney General directed the FBI to process background checks more efficiently by requiring the Director of the FBI to increase the immediate "proceed" or "deny" responses to 90 percent of all gun checks. Under the proposal, if NICS receives a "delay" response, it will be routed to a NICS examiner. The examiner will review the relevant records and immediately advise the gun dealer whether the transaction may proceed. Increased efficiency will decrease the ability of illegal aliens and others from obtaining guns illegally by default.

Last year, TGDA President, Bill Carter, TGDA Vice President, Donnie Durbin, and TGDA Past President, Joe McBride, met with the top officials of the FBI and BATF in Washington to discuss the problems Texas dealers are experiencing with NICS delays.