Fake ID's Foil Brady Checks - GAO Agents buy guns in 5 states using PC-generated IDsA team of Congressional special agents was able to bypass Brady Act background checks and successfully purchase firearms using fake IDs in all five states where they tried, according to a March 19, 2001 General Accounting Office.
The investigation was conducted by the General Accounting Office at the request of U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA), ranking minority member of the House Committee on Government Reform.
Agents purchased firearms from licensed dealers in Virginia, West Virginia, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona from late October 2000 through February 2001. All five states conform to minimum requirements of the Brady Act, relying on instant background checks, but do not require fingerprinting or waiting periods for firearms purchases. The gun stores and pawnshops visited were selected at random from the yellow pages of local telephone directories. The investigation was conducted in accordance with investigative standards established by the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency.
State-level background checks required in Virginia and Arizona also failed to catch the fake IDs.
Based on their investigation, GAO concluded that in the five states, "the instant background check does not positively identify purchasers of firearms," and that it "cannot ensure that the prospective purchaser is not a felon."
The Brady background check determines only whether a gun buyer has criminal record but does not verify the existence of the name and identification used by the buyer.
According to the report, "the instant background check does not positively identify purchasers of firearms. Rather, it is a negative check that cannot ensure that the prospective purchaser is not a felon or other prohibited person whose receipt and possession of a firearm would be unlawful."
Investigators created the counterfeit state driver's licenses with fictitious names, dates of birth, and/or social security numbers using "off-the-shelf software, a scanner, a laminator, and a color laser printer."
The fake IDs were used in the five states to purchase rifles, handguns, semiautomatic weapons, ammunition clips and hollow-point bullets.
Gun control opponents have argued since its passage in 1994, that flaws in the Brady Act prevent it from being an effective deterrent to illegal possession and use of firearms.
The full GAO report -- Firearms: Purchased From Federal Firearm Licensees Using Bogus Identification GAO-01-427, March 19, 2001 -- can be viewed online.
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1994 is a federal law requiring that all prospective purchasers of firearms be approved through an "instant background check." The background check is performed by licensed gun dealers using a telephone or computer through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). To accomplish this, the NICS Operations Center searches three separate databases:
The NICS Index, which contains records on persons known to be disqualified under federal law from possession of firearms;
the National Crime Information Center, a computerized information system of criminal justice data established by the FBI, which contains records on protective orders, deported felons, and fugitives from justice; and the Interstate Identification Index, which contains criminal history records.
Possible results of a Brady Act background check can be:
"Proceed" means that no disqualifying or negative information is in the system to indicate that a firearm purchase would be unlawful and the transaction may proceed.
"Denied" means that the purchase would be unlawful and prohibits the FFL from transferring the firearm to the purchaser.
"Delayed" means that the transferee must delay the transaction until contacted again by NICS or 3 business days have elapsed. 10 If NICS does not provide a response after 3 business days, the FFL may transfer the firearm.
If there is no disqualifying or negative information to indicate that the sale may be unlawful, the sale may take place.
The laws of some states also require background searches of their own available criminal databases, as well as mandatory waiting periods prior to delivery of a firearm.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) regulations implementing the Brady Act provide that before a licensed dealer may sell or deliver a firearm, the prospective purchaser must provide photo-identification issued by a government entity. The identification must contain the purchaser's name, state of residence, age, gender, and race.
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa032801a.htm*FW Note:Gee, by all law-enforcement reports, Brady is fool-proof. If it's not, why require law abiding citizens to be subjected to its mandates just by engaging in legal commerce?
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