Do Background Checks Keep Guns Away from Dangerous People?

 

 

Do background checks keep dangerous people from gaining access to firearms? Are these checks preventing criminals and mentally unstable individuals from buying a firearm and doing harm to themselves or harming someone else?

 

According to the FBI, in the past 20 years (from November 1998 when the National Instant Check System (NICS) was established, until October 31, 2018) there have been 299,697,888 checks run for on people wanting to purchase a firearm from a licensed (FFL) dealer. 

 

 

During the last 20 years the NICS has denied the sale of 1,577,913 firearms to individuals who attempted to purchase them through a licensed dealer.

 

Thus we find that the NICS has denied about 1/2 of 1-percent (0.52%) of the total checks that have been submitted between 1998 and 2018.

 

A small number of denials (4.77%) were successfully appealed and the sale of the firearm was eventually permitted.

 

With only 0.52% of firearms purchases denied by NICS over a 20 year period, it would seem that most criminals are not getting their guns by purchasing them from their local FFL dealer.

 

But, didn't background checks stop 1,577,913 new gun crimes over the last 20 years? Well, No! While that number of sales were denied, for the various reasons shown above, not everyone of these guns had they been sold would have been used in a crime. For example, the Brennan Center for Justice wrote in December 2016 that approximately 40% of the nationwide prison population (576,000 people) is behind bars with little public safety rationale. If we accept this as a good estimate, then 40% of the background check denials for criminal convictions would have created no new gun crime if it had been approved. Do we assume that the 25,485 sales denied because the person attempting the purchase was an "Illegal/Unlawful Alien" would all be used in a crime had the sale been approved?

 

A very small percentage of sales (0.52%) have been denied by the NICS over the past 20 years. Of those denials, some number would result in no new gun crime if the sale was approved, and some small number would of course be used to commit a crime. The question we are left with is whether the massive NICS bureaucracy and the repeated checks into the lives of honest Americans and infringement of their rights are worth whatever value we gain from background checks on gun sales. 

 

 

 

 



Operating in Hostile and Non-Permissive Environments:
A Survival and Resource Guide for Those Who Go in Harm’s Way

Military personnel deployed to a combat area, their supporting contractors overseas, government civilian employees overseas, non-government organizations (NGOs), journalists working on international stories, businesses attempting to establish a foothold in developing countries, and individual travelers to remote areas of the world can all find themselves in hostile and non-permissive environments. This guide covers a broad range of subjects that are intended to aid individuals, living and working in dangerous areas, in being safer in their daily lives and in being better able to protect themselves and survive in case of an emergency, disaster, or hostile action.