Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Legal Issues The Brady Act The Brady Act The Brady Law was passed in February of 1994 in the name of James Brady, who was President Reagan‘s press secretary who was severely wounded by a bullet in the assassination attempt of Reagan in 1981. Since the enactment of the Brady Law, violent crimes committed with firearms have greatly reduced. In fact, from 1985 all the way up through 1993 the use of guns in crime was at an all time high. It was until the Brady Act was passed that the use of firearms in crimes decreased. Today the Brady Act continues to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. The Brady Handgun Violence Act of 1994 is a federal law requiring that all prospective purchasers of firearms be approved through what is known as “an instant background check.” The instant background check is performed by licensed gun dealers using a telephone or a computer through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is also referred to as (NICS). Also not to mention, federally licensed firearms importers, manufacturers, and dealers must comply with permanent Brady before the transfer of any firearm to a non-licensed individual occurs. (www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/bradylaw/) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and firearms (ATF) regulates that accordingly with the Brady Act, a licensed dealer may sell a firearm if and only if the buyer has a valid government issued form of picture identification. The form of identification must contain the purchaser’s name, full address including the state of residence, age, gender, and race. In many cases second forms of identification are asked for. NICS is not operated and ran by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. It is run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). All NICS checks however, do not run through the FBI’s NICS operations center. Some states have their own laws regarding these checks. In this case they have different regulations when it comes to an individual purchasing a firearm. All licensees however, no matter what state that the individual is in must be enrolled with the FBI before they can initiate NICS checks through the FBI’s NICS Operations Center. Licensed gun sellers can get themselves into a lot of trouble if they do not act accordingly with the Brady Act. If they were to provide a firearm to a prohibited person or a felon, they could receive up to ten years in prison. For any AIL violations under the Brady Act, instant check phase, licensees can receive up to one year in prison. Lastly, for knowingly making any false statements yourself, or knowing that some one else has made a false statement on Federal Form 4473, which is the form used in applying for the purchase of a firearm, the penalty is a ten year prison sentence. In some cases, depending on the state that you are in as well as the store that you are purchasing a firearm from, there can be further background checks. These background checks are not authorized by NICS, they are required by some states and some storeowners, that just prefer to be safe and use the checks, again waiting periods and finger printing will usually come about. Usually these further background checks are ran off a state’s or licensed dealer’s personal database. In many cases, these checks will require a short delay in the transfer of the firearm. Depending on what state that you are in there are what is known as POC’s or State points of Contact. NICS are free of charge, but if a state demands that you must go through POC there is a possibility that you will be charged a fee. Also some states require that for handgun purchases, the background check must run through the states POC as well as the FBI’s NICS Operations Center. In this case, there is usually a waiting period and and chances are that the purchaser will be finger printed. There are some falsities regarding the Brady Law. Many people think that there is automatically a five-day waiting period before a firearm can be purchased. This however, is not true. Licensees will provide a background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check or otherwise known as NICS. The National Instant Criminal Background Check searches three different files. One of them is their own NICS index. This file contains records on people known to be unable, under federal law to own or posses’ firearms. Secondly, the NICS system looks in the National Crime Information Center. This is a computerized information system created by the FBI. It holds information such as; protective orders, deported felons, and fugitives from justice. Lastly, the NICS system checks the Interstate Identification Index. This file contains all criminal history records. There are three possible results of the Brady Act background check. They are proceed, denied, and delayed. Proceed means that the Brady Act background check went well, with no negative information that would disqualify someone’s eligibility to purchase a handgun. Another possible outcome is denied. This means that the purchase would be illegal, and disallows the title of the handgun to be transferred to the individual wanting to purchase the firearm. The final outcome is delayed. All this means is that the transferee must delay the transaction until they are again contacted by NICS. The delay can be up to three business days, business days being any day that government offices are open. When delay is involved the check is usually done through the FBI’s operation center, as well as following all of the states rules and regulations. If for some reason that NICS does not get back to the current gun owner, they are able to sell the firearm under dispute. There is some controversy about the permanent Brady Law when it comes to gun shows and pawn shops. In spite of this, at a gun show a licensee may not transfer a firearm to a non-licensee without first acting upon the regulations and requirements of the permanent Brady Law. When it comes to pawn shops that deal with firearms, a licensed pawnshop owner cannot accept a firearm from someone at random. The permanent Brady does apply. If it were the case that a non licensed person came to a pawn shop trying to exchange a gun for money or another item, the owner can not accept the gun unless however, they both stand legally according to the NICS check. At some pawnshops, the pawnshop owners can perform NICS checks. If someone came into a pawn shop and tried to pawn off the gun and the licensed pawn shop owner ran a NICS check on this person and it comes up denied, the licensed pawn shop owner may not return the gun to the person who tried to pawn it, instead they are to notify their local law enforcement. (www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/bradylaw/) Another interesting fact on the Brady Law is that the requirements of permanent Brady do not apply to sales of firearms to law enforcement officials for official use. These transactions are exempt from the provisions of the Brady law when the transaction complies with the conditions set forth in the regulations at 27 CFR 178.134. Conversely, the purchaser must provide a certification on agency letterhead, signed by a person in authority within the agency stating that the officer will use the firearm in official duties, and that a records check reveals that the purchasing officer has no convictions for misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence. (www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/bradylaw/) The permanent Brady applies to long guns and rifles. This is a fact that many times is overlooked. However, this does not include long guns and rifles that are considered to be antiques. Licensed collectors as well, do not have to comply with the permanent Brady Act as long as they are legally qualified to do so. There are many arguments concerning the Brady Law, however new FBI data shows that the Brady Law was very effective in reducing gun crimes. In all actuality, the Brady Law background check kept handguns out of the possession of 312,000 prohibited purchasers, including 113 felons a day. (http://www.bradycampaign.org/) This proves that the Brady Law is making America a safer place. The number of robberies committed with a firearm since 1994 has fallen by 27.8% (618,949 to 446,625). A similar trend can be seen for murders. The number of murders committed with a firearm since 1994 has dropped 29% (15,463 to 10,977). (http://www.bradycampaign.org/) Clearly this is forward progress due to the Brady Law. Many people feel that the Brady law has to many flaws and is not properly doing its job. People had higher expectations of it. To prove these people right, a team of congressional special agents was able to bypass Brady Act background checks and purchase firearms using fake forms of identification. The officials were able to do this in all five states that they tried to purchase firearms illegally. Here, agents purchased firearms from various licensed gun dealers in the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona randomly, from October of 2000 through February of 2002. These five states were subject to this operation because they only hold up to the minimal Brady law requirements. Many people believe that this is not enough and feel that more and more criminals are getting their hands on firearms do to these states and their weak and minimal enforcement of the Brady Act. They almost completely rely on the instant background check. They do not have waiting periods nor do they finger print any of their gun purchasers, where other states do. It was said that all the places that the congressional special agents went to were chosen at random. In no way were these officials just going to the gun or pawn shops that they might have had previous leads on. From this operation, it was concluded that the minimum Brady requirements are not completely effective and that these states should be held to higher standards. Some examples that show the Brady law in effect are: - April 13, 2000 a murder suspect was arrested in North Carolina as a result of a NICS check. (www.bradycampaign.org/facts/gunlaws/brady.asp) - On April 2, 2000 an individual was prevented from buying a gun in Texas because the NICS check revealed that the buyer had previously been convicted of a felony in New Jersey and was still on probation. (www.bradycampaign.org/facts/gunlaws/brady.asp) - On November 30, 1999 an individual tried to purchase a firearm in Corinth, Mississippi. The NICS check identified the individual as wanted by law enforcement agencies for escaping from a prison in Georgia. (www.bradycampaign.org/facts/gunlaws/brady.asp) The Brady Law has done nothing but help America since 1994. Since the enactment of the Brady Law, violent crimes committed with firearms have greatly reduced. It has also kept firearms out of the hands of many criminals, and will continue to do so. Bibliography: Bibliography Brady Campaign. Facts and Information. 28 Apr. 2002. http:/www.bradycampaign.org/facts/gunlaws/brady.asp Brady Law. Information from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. 28 Apr. 2002. http:/www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/bradylaw/ CNN News. Articles. 25 Apr. 2002. http:/cnn.com/US/9608/26/gun.facts.check/ Research Library. Articles. 26 Apr. 2002. http:/www.nraila.org/media/misc/prevention.htm Word Count: 1801
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