Politics & Government
Black Friday Sets Record For Single Day Gun Check Requests
The numbers from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System come the same week AG Jeff Sessions ordered a review of the system.
The FBI on Friday received more than 200,000 background check requests for gun purchases, setting a new record for a single day, USA Today reported. The FBI received 203,086 such requests the day after Thanksgiving, beating two previous single day records that were also set on Black Friday.
The statistics were released by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). In 2016, the FBI received 185,713 background check requests for guns on Black Friday and in 2015, that number was 185,345 requests. Both those days were the previous records for highest background check requests in a single day.
On Wednesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a comprehensive review of NICS in the aftermath of the shooting at a church in Texas that left 26 dead and injured dozens more. It was revealed that the gunman, who authorities identified as Devin Patrick Kelley, had served in the Air Force and the military had failed to report his criminal history to the FBI, which would have prevented Kelley from obtaining guns.
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The Air Force has ordered a review into the Kelley case.
One of the steps Sessions asked the FBI and ATF to take is to work with the Department of Defense and identify any issues with the military's reporting of convictions and other information that would stop someone from being eligible to purchase a gun. The memo also directed the FBI and ATF to identify other federal agencies that are not fully and accurately reporting information to NICS.
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“The recent shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas revealed that relevant information may not be getting reported to the NICS – this is alarming and it is unacceptable," Sessions said in a statement.
As USA Today notes, gun checks are not a measure of actual gun sales as a single buyer may purchase multiple firearms. According to USA Today, there are other problems with NICS because a background check may show a record of an arrest but that alone is not sufficient to stop someone from buying a gun. In such cases, FBI analysts have only three days to fill such information gaps.
Also See: Mall Of America Draws Thousands On Black Friday
Photo by Jae C. Hong, File/Associated Press
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