Weapons

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, April, 2007

The Bureau of Justice Statistics' Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 2005 describes background checks for firearm transfers conducted during that year. This annual report features the number of applications checked by state points of contact and the estimated amount checked by local agencies; the number of applications rejected and the reasons for rejection; and estimates of applications and rejections for each type of approval system. It also provides information about appeals of rejected applications and arrests for falsified ones. The Firearm Inquiry Statistics Program is an ongoing data collection effort focusing on the procedures and statistics related to background checks in selected states.

Highlights of this report include the following: among state and local checking agencies in 2005, 46 percent of all rejections for firearm transfers (about 30,000 applications) were due to a felony conviction or indictment; ATF field offices investigated 9,575 National Instant Criminal Background Check System denials referred by the FBI in 2005; and, in 2005, agencies reported 1,400 arrests of persons denied a firearm or a permit. This report is available online at http://ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/bcft05.pdf or by contacting the National Criminal Justice Reference Service at 800-851-3420.