Nevada’s bad grade in gun checks criticized

Brendan Riley

Friday, Jan. 18, 2002 | 9:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- An official of the state Department of Public Safety is questioning a national advocacy group's report that gave Nevada an "F" for its background checks on people buying guns.

Jeff Artz, the state agency's records and identification supervisor, said Thursday the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation report overlooks some key differences in the way states track gun sales.

The foundation, based in Washington, D.C., gave "Fs" to 22 states. In Nevada's case, it said the state has automated only 38 percent of the criminal records tracked in approving a gun purchase.

The group also said that nationwide about 10,000 felons and others legally barred from buying guns were able to cruise past background checks and purchase firearms. But Nevada had no reported cases of such purchases.

"We feel pretty good about what we're doing," Artz said in questioning the foundation's view of Nevada's record-keeping. He said the records here are automated here and background checks are handled carefully.

But he said the state tracks all charges filed against someone, and if only one conviction results from multiple charges the disposition record would appear incomplete.

Artz said some states will use one conviction to dispose of several counts filed in the same case. But he said his agency has to follow up with courts to determine what happened to all the charges, including those that are dropped and those that ultimately produce convictions.

"That may affect our disposition rate," he said. "But we go to every effort to research those dispositions. We have a unit that specifically does that, and they handle everything that comes across the desk."

Background checks to see whether prospective gun buyers have criminal records have been required since February 1994 under the Brady Act, which was staunchly opposed by gun-rights groups. The foundation advocates a "don't know-don't sell" policy for potential buyers with uncertain backgrounds.

Each state compiles felony conviction, mental disability and domestic violence records for use by the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

But the foundation's report says 9,976 prohibited buyers throughout the nation obtained a gun because of faulty records over the past 30 months. Since records in many states haven't been entered into a database, finding them can take several days, the report said.

Under federal law, if a state or federal government cannot complete a background check in three days, gun dealers must sell a firearm to the customer.