669 Prohibited Washington Gun Buyers Attempted Purchases Since 2017

According to KING 5 News, November 30, 2018:  A report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs found 669 people who are not allowed to buy a gun tried to since 2017.

There were 3,248 denied firearm applications between July 2017 and July 2018. Six hundred sixty-nine were referred to law enforcement. The law does not require law enforcement agencies to investigate.

The report by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) says it notified law enforcement about 264 people who made multiple attempts to purchase handguns through licensed firearms dealers, 103 background checks that failed after the buyer had received the gun, 192 people who had protection orders against them that barred them from owning guns, and 255 people with felony convictions.

The report says 12 cases that were referred to prosecutors were charged, and 13 cases were not charged.

In most cases, prohibited purchasers fail to receive the firearm, because they do not pass the background check. However, applying for the purchase of a firearm is itself illegal for felons, people who have protective orders against them, those convicted of domestic violence, and the mentally ill who have been involuntarily committed.

The WASPC report also noted instances where firearms purchasers were “…incorrectly being denied transactions” because of paper work errors and mistakes – although it couldn’t determine how often this occurs.
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According to the FBI, there were 491,011 background checks conducted in Washington state (Jan 1 - Oct 31, 2018) and 579,678 background checks conducted in 2017.

So, of approximately half-a-million background checks, only 669 denials were of a nature to be referred to law enforcement for investigation, and only 12 referred to prosecutors were charged.

Even taking the worst case scenario that all 3,248 denied firearms purchase applications posed a threat to the community (and it is not really reasonable to believe that this is the case), only about one-half of one-percent of total firearms purchases were denied.  Criminals do not get their guns by purchasing them at the local gun store.

As we have recently seen, a UC Davis study examining the first ten years after California adopted universal background checks shows that those checks did not reduce homicides.

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