Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Why Firearm Background Checks in Pennsylvania are a Challenge to the Constitution!
For over two decades, Americans have agreed in principle to use technology to scrutinize the backgrounds of citizens 'prior' to them exercising their Constitutional right to purchase firearms and bear arms. The vast majority of Americans also want to make sure that these checks are done fairly, efficiently, and constitutionally. Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS), operated by the Pennsylvania State police (PSP), does not adhere to these standards in spite of the millions of dollars of taxpayer money that has been, and is being, spent.
First, one must understand how this process works. The PICS system (overseen by the Pennsylvania State Police-PSP) operates as a Point of Contact (POC) for the federal DOJ/FBI, which operates the National Instant Check System (NICS). What this means is that Pennsylvania is authorized by the Federal government to operate a stand-alone agency to conduct these firearm background checks on its citizens. The PICS system went online in 1998, enabled by state legislation, ACT 17, enacted in 1995.
Because of the very serious and obvious flaws in the PA system, national enforcement agencies have issued directives and the PA state legislature has enacted laws to correct them. Unfortunately, nothing has significantly improved and citizens are still paying the price. In a letter dated 6/15/2001 from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the PICS/PSP system was directed to correct operational flaws: "Therefore, PICS should not . . . automatically deny individuals where the information cannot be obtained by PICS." This continuing problem is but one of several others identified by the Department of Justice. Some of these operational flaws even include the PICS/PSP system not following the law e.g., retention of firearms sale information and the registration of these individuals into a central database. The PICS/PSP system also violates a section of PA law, Title 18-Section 6111 (f)(3), which states that the background check requirement "shall not apply to any law enforcement officer whose current identification as a law enforcement officer shall be construed as a valid license to carry a firearm or any person who possesses a valid license to carry a firearm under section 6109".
It is important to remember that there is a very significant human cost to these mistakes. Take a look at the stories of these four innocent Pennsylvania men:
Case #1: a Federal Law Enforcement officer (name withheld for officer safety) who was an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agent for thirteen years as well as an international liaison for Interpol. He had no misdemeanors or felonies on his record. In December 2009 this agent, who resides in York County, was denied by the PICS system. He was forced to go back nearly 20 years to retrieve records to prove his innocence. This agent personally wrote the following statements to me via e-mail (documentation available): The system is radically flawed and change is needed-This was such a nasty experience. Yes, these laws and processes definitely need to be changed.
Case #2: Jeffrey L. Burtner Mr. Burtner tried in May 2012 to buy a hunting rifle from a federally licensed firearms dealer in Butler. He was denied as a "mental defective". It is important to note that no records existed for this denial. Mr. Burtner was forced to sue the PICS/PSP to prove his innocence! He won. The PICS/PSP still has not corrected his record.
Case #3: Michael Ross was stopped for a simple traffic citation. Mr. Ross possessed two firearms in the vehicle at the time and upon examining his LTCF (concealed carry permit), the officer seized his firearms because one was not listed in the illegal PICS/PSP gun registry. Ironically, this firearm was purchased from a private individual 2 years prior and documentation showed that it was approved through the PICS/PSP system. Mr. Ross was forced to sue to recover his property based on the flawed PICS/PSP information.
Case #4: Jeff Harriswho, as a younger man, attended a party in another state and after things got out of hand he decided to leave. The police arrested everyone at the party. Mr. Harris was charged with carrying a pocket knife and subsequently released. There was no conviction and yet Mr. Harris was denied the purchase of a firearm nearly ten years later based on the arrest record and then Mr. Harris was forced to prove his innocence. He won.
It is very important to note that NOT ONE PRO-GUN CONTROL ORGANIZATION, such as CeaseFirePA, objected to any of these violations of the law or individual liberties or helped in any way to assist these individuals. It did not matter to them that these men were denied their rights because of inefficiencies and incompetence. Fairness and the truth were of little consequence to these organizations. The goal was to keep honest men from getting firearms that they were constitutionally entitled to, no matter what it took. For the pro-gun control advocate organizations, the ends do justify the means!
It is also important to realize the immensity of the problem. Since the inception of the PICS system, it has denied over 150,000 Pennsylvanians the right to purchase firearms. For all of these denials, there are less than 2000 criminal convictions. Also, of the denials that were challenged (not all denials are challenged) nearly 30,000 were reversed. This means they were not lawful denials. Clearly because of serious flaws in the PA system, our Constitutional rights are being repeatedly violated!
Since the inception of instant firearm background checks, numerous states have modified how these checks are handled. Four states have rejected running their own state (POC) systems, such as Pennsylvania operates. They experienced the same problems of bureaucratic bungling, indifference, lack of efficiency, turf wars and Constitutional concerns that continue to haunt Pennsylvania. Other POC states are also re-examining their systems, for the very same reasons. These include Tennessee, Colorado, and Oregon. At this point there are 36 states where firearms background checks are conducted very efficiently through the NICS system at no charge to the state.
The legislation sponsored by Rep. Tim Krieger, House Bill 921, is the solution to these inequities. It will also save Pennsylvania taxpayers millions of dollars. Making this change to the NICS system will also create a safer Pennsylvania and nation by consolidating records and firearm background checks into one database. The NICS system maintains a more effective and more reliable system that also has a better record of fairness and accuracy when citizens challenge denials because of incorrect information. Legislators should also direct the PSP to forward records on domestic abusers with a PFA, just as has been done with mental health records, to the NICS system. This, too, is a glaring and dangerous omission that is unacceptable and 'must' be corrected.
I have testified numerous times before the Pennsylvania legislature regarding these problems and identified many additional flaws that are a real concern to many Pennsylvanians. At these same hearings, anti-gun organizations, such as CeaseFirePA, have testified that they care nothing about the Constitution or having an efficient system (NICS), nor the misery of citizens hobbled by bureaucratic indifference and the denial of Constitutional freedoms. We need to see through the hysteria and outlandish, unfounded statements raised by groups like CeaseFirePA, if we are to arrive at a safer society that also respects individual freedoms.