HB 4147 : Relating to firearm transfer criminal background checks

Position: Support Status: Currently in the House

Prohibits transfer of firearm by dealer or private party for 10 business days if Department of State Police is unable to determine whether recipient is qualified to receive firearm.

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Update

January 05, 2016

HB 4147 (Charleston Loophole) has successfully passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and will probably have a vote on the House floor on Thursday.

Details

  • Over 90% of firearm background checks are completed within minutes. Some background checks take longer. This is calling a "pending" background check.
  • Under current law, a check is allowed to pend for 3 business days. After that time, the seller is permitted to sell the gun even if the check is not complete. This is called the Charleston loophole. (Note: the seller is not required to sell the gun. Walmart, for example, doesn't sell guns without a completed background check.)
  • HB 4147 only pertains to background checks that are pending. A gun seller may proceed with the gun sale as soon as the background check is approved.

Talking Points

  • Nine people were gunned down in their own church last year in Charleston, South Carolina, because a man who was prohibited from buying a gun was sold a gun because his firearm background check was not completed within 3 days.
  • From 2010 through 2014, gun dealers throughout the United States have gone forward with 15,729 gun sales to prohibited people because a background check could not be completed within three business days.
  • According to FBI data, more than 20 percent of “proceed default” sales, where a final determination was made by the FBI, involve sales of firearms to prohibited individuals. An analysis of FBI data by Mayors Against Illegal Guns found "default proceed sales are more than eight times more likely to be associated with a prohibited purchaser than sales where the purchaser's background check is resolved within three days."
  • HB 4147 only pertains to background checks that are pending. A gun seller may proceed with the gun sale as soon as the background check is approved.

Opposition

The opposition has created a wild hypothetical story about an abused woman who must have a gun immediately to shoot an abusive husband. This story is a complete fabrication. Let's get the facts straight about domestic violence and guns:

  • Background checks also prevent abusive people from buying guns. (Shame on the gun lobby for making it easier for abusive people to be armed!) An abused woman has other avenues of immediate protection, including contacting the police.
  • Having a gun in the home does not make an abused woman safer.
  • Having a gun in the home increases the risk of homicide 20 times when there is a history of domestic violence (John Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, 2010)
  • Times Labs is a good source of information about this.