Some Nevada gun store owners blast new instant gun checks

Monday, Nov. 30, 1998 | 8:55 a.m.

Under the system, the number of checks performed will double because the Brady Act now requires background approvals not just for handgun buyers but also for those who buy rifles and shotguns.

Local gun dealers call the new system a nuisance, saying they'll be forced to pass on an additional $15 federal expense on each purchase to gun buyers.

"It almost seems like they're punishing those licensed dealers. You shouldn't have to pay the government to buy a gun," said Rick Jeffrey, owner of The Shooter's Shack in Reno.

Under the new system, gun buyers will no longer have to wait five days to purchase firearms. If no hitch surfaces during a computerized network check, they can buy guns on the spot.

But if a blemish is detected, the law provides for a maximum three-day hold while the case is investigated. The system, operated by the FBI and state governments, is designed to prevent ex-felons, the mentally ill and others from obtaining firearms.

Dennis DeBacco of the state Point-of-Sale Firearms Program hailed the system, saying it would keep guns away from people prohibited from owning them.

Since the Brady Act took effect in 1994, he said, about 80 percent of all gun transactions have resulted in immediate approval and all but 2 percent of the remaining cases were cleared within an hour.

"We've had several hundred arrests of ex-felons and others," he said. "From a public-safety standpoint, it truly has served as a great program. It does in fact keep (guns away from) people who are prohibited from buying handguns."

But Chester Parks, owner of the Nevada Gun Exchange in Carson City, questioned its effectiveness.

"I've probably refused five, maybe six people in all that time," he said. "A lot of people will shine it on and buy private party. This won't affect private party sales.

"It won't help. People who they don't want having gun don't come to stores to buy guns. They steal them and sell 'em back on the black market."

President Clinton wants to extend provisions of the Brady Act to private sales of guns.