NC Partially Participates in National Instant Criminal Background Check System for Firearm Purchases

Prior to the Newtown shooting tragedy, the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting brought forth questions on gun control. Many citizens want to know what is being done to alleviate the situation.

According to the FBI website, currently 13 states participate in the NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System). This is the system for determining eligibility to purchase a firearm. The NICS database is linked to the National Crime Information Center and other databases maintained by the FBI.

While North Carolina gets credit for partial participation, neighboring states do not participate in the NICS database program. States participating in the program report individuals that are denied permits through NICS to law enforcement and could be therefore charged with a felony.

Through June 2012 the FBI published each state's results for firearms background checks. Kentucky rates the highest with 209,443. North Carolina recorded 29,124, Georgia 27,206 and South Carolina at 22,649.

What factors are red flags that would impede the purchase of a firearm?

Sections 922(g) and (n) of the Gun Control Act prohibits certain persons from shipping or transporting any firearm in interstate or foreign commerce, or receiving any firearm which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, or possessing any firearm in or affecting commerce. According to the Bureua of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives website these prohibitions apply to any person who:

• Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year
• Is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year
• Is a fugitive from justice
• Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance
• Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution
• Is illegally or unlawfully in the United States
• Has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions
• Having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced U.S. citizenship
• Is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner
• Has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence