NCJ Number
178582
Date Published
1998
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Denials of firearms purchases in Florida between July 1991 and June 1996 were studied with respect to the individuals who were not approved for these purchases; the research used data from the computerized records of the Firearm Purchase Program (FPP).
Abstract
Information was also collected by means of interviews with FPP administrators and operators to identify the limitations of existing data sources and the barriers that these limitations create for a persons eligibility. The typical person for whom a purchase was denied was white, male, nonviolent, and without a history of firearm offenses. The major reasons for denial were drug possession, miscellaneous, burglary, larceny, and weapons violations. The FPP relies on the National Crime Information Center and on the Florida Crime Information Center for all its firearm denial information; these sources are accurate only to the point that the information given to the FPP operators is correct. A partnership between gun dealers and the FPP is needed for background checks to serve their purpose. Incomplete criminal history information is also a limitation. Findings suggested that adding a few fields to the initial denial record could enable the FPP to determine whether the person had a history of violent crime, gun-related crime, or domestic violence. This might seem to be a workload burden, but only 2 to 3 percent of the calls for approval result in a denial. The most time-consuming part of a non-approval is obtaining disposition data; the automated updated of criminal history records with disposition data will make it possible to replace efforts to obtain that data with the recording of different information. Figures and tables