Live Scan System for Universal Background Check for Gun Control

All licensed gun shops and firearm dealer are required to perform background check on buyer to look for any criminal history records. This requirement is mandatory and backed by law.

In order to keep guns out of hands of the fugitives, felons, persons with open arrest warrants, minors, mentally ill and drug addicts, the U.S. Congress introduced the Gun Control Act of 1968.

This Act, however, had loopholes that allowed such people to get their hands on guns. Gun control act covered licensed firearm dealers but there are many sellers that sell guns casually.

These unlicensed gun sellers allowed people to purchase guns without going through any criminal history background checks. These gun buyers also included criminals and people with disruptive intents.

No wonder a large portion of gun violence have seem involvement of guns that were purchased without performing any criminal history background checks on buyers.

To further restrain easy access to guns and firearms for people with criminal background, the U.S. Congress passed Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in 1993, a step forward to universal background check legislation.

This act required all licensed firearm dealers to perform background check on every customer buying firearms.

Universal background check legislation advocates that all gun sell transactions to be backed by universal background screening. It covers even the casual gun sellers that are not licensed and sell guns casually.

Universal background screening for every gun buy/sell transaction helps ensure that people with criminal / questionable background cannot own guns so the potential gun violence incidents can be stopped.

All US states require background check for gun purchases as far as they are they are purchased by a federally licensed firearm dealers. However, the process of handing the background check activity may differ across the states.

Licensed firearm dealers in 36 Non Point-of-Contact states rely on FBI’s NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check) system to perform background check. There are agencies representing NICS in 13 full POC states.

FFLs (Federal Firearm Licensees) can contact these POCs for firearm background checks. Similarly 7 states work as a partial POC by sharing responsibility with the FBI. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has presence in 25 states that can issue gun permits after performing a background check.

NICS is an instant background verification system maintained by the FBI to perform quick background checks on a firearm buyer.NICS system is available online (aka NICS E-Check) as well as via phone.

While NICS is a name check service, using live scan fingerprint to perform universal background screening can return more reliable results.

States with universal background checks: Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia require universal background check for some private sale of guns. However, while universal background check is widely supported by people, it is not mandated by the federal law.