Enforcement of the Brady Act, 2006: ATF Investigations and United States Attorneys' Prosecutions of Firearm Applicants Denied by an FBI/NICS Check in 2006

• NCJ Number: 222474
• Author(s): Ronald J. Frandsen, Regional Justice Information Service
• Date Published: January 2008

Annotation

This federally supported report presents and describes firearm applicant denials under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Act) by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and State agencies and how Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) screens denied persons for possible prosecution.

Abstract

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Act), enacted in 1993, requires criminal history background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and State agencies on persons who attempt to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer. In 2006, the FBI denied a firearm to nearly 70,000 persons due to National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) records of felonies, domestic violence offenses, and other prohibiting factors. Enforcement of the Brady Act, 2006 reports on investigations and prosecutions of persons who were denied a firearm by the FBI in 2006. This report, supported by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, describes how the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) screens denied-person cases and retrieves firearms that were obtained illegally. Statistics presented include the charges most likely to be filed against denied persons by United States Attorneys and the results of prosecutions.