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Background checks blocked sales of 300,000 guns, a record high, in 2020

Salt Lake City (AP) — With gun sales skyrocketing, the number of people who stopped buying guns through the US background check system surpassed a record 300,000 last year. Gun safety.

The FBI number provided to the Associated Press indicates that background checks blocked sales of guns in 2020, almost double the previous year. Approximately 42% of these denials were due to the prospective purchaser convicting his record of a felony.

The increase in sales of blocked guns is mainly due to Coronavirus pandemic And it continues until this year Historical demonstration of police atrocities, With deep political division Riot at US Capitol..

That’s because Congress didn’t pass major gun legislation, despite the Democratic majority and President Joe Biden’s push. A bill to strengthen background checks is stalled in the Senate. March house Passed the legislation All sales and transfer checks and a 10-day review of gun purchases need to be expanded. In most states, background checks are only required for sale at federally licensed dealers. But the bill faces a difficult battle to win Republican support in the Senate.

According to the data, the percentage of banned gun buyers has also increased somewhat over the past two years, from about 0.6% to 0.8%. Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor who specializes in guns, said that many people trying to get a gun in 2020 are legally banned from buying and owning a gun for the first time. He said he may not have been aware of it. policy.

“Some people may have a felony conviction in their records and may not be thinking about it,” he said.

Making false statements in connection with a background check is a felony that can be punished with up to 10 years in prison and a large fine, but those charged with lying on the form filled out before purchasing the gun. He said there were few.

In 2017, 12 out of 112,000 people (about 0.01%) refused to buy guns and were charged by the federal government, according to a report by the US Government Accountability Office. This is primarily due to limited resources for time-consuming research.

According to an Everytown survey, 16% of people who could buy a gun in 2020 were banned by state laws such as extreme risk protection orders and danger signal laws passed in several states. Another 12% are related to domestic violence and are either subject to protection orders or convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses.

Everytown investigator Sarah Bird Sharps said the data show how much law is needed.

“There is no doubt that background checks will work, but the system is working overtime to prevent a record number of people with dangerous bans from buying guns,” she said in a statement. .. “A loophole in the law allows us to circumvent the system, even if we meet for the first time online or at a gun show.”

Gun rights groups opposed the proposal, and Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation Group, said the increase in denials may be due to more states breaking records for restricted people. Said. He said there were also false positives. “It’s just a day when our office doesn’t get complaints from people who are mistakenly rejected,” he said.

Data also comes as more and more conservative states withdraw their requirements for background checks and training for carrying guns in public.

Texas from about 20 last week Drop permission requirements In a push that began to gain momentum a few years ago. The Gun Rights Group states that these requirements are an unfair burden for law-abiding gun owners, but the Firearms Safety Group allows it to allow more guns to malicious persons. I am concerned that it is a dangerous trend.

Denial data is released by the FBI, but the information collected by Everytown is categorized by year and includes data from states such as California and Florida that perform their own background checks.


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