Brady Act Background Checks, History, and Application

The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is perhaps the most controversial federal gun control law enacted since the Gun Control Act of 1968, and several events in the U.S. led to its creation and enactment. In an effort to deny guns to those who would misuse them, it requires firearms dealers to perform an automated background check on prospective buyers of all rifles, shotguns or handguns. Brady Bill History On March 30, 1981, 25-year old John W. Hinckley, Jr. tried to impress actress Jodi Foster by assassinating President Ronald Reagan with a .22 caliber pistol. While he accomplished neither, Hinckley did manage to wound President Reagan, a District of Columbia police officer, a Secret Service agent, and White House Press Secretary James S. Brady. While he survived the attack, Brady remains partially disabled. Driven largely by the reaction to the assassination attempt and Mr. Bradys injuries, the Brady Act was passed, requiring background checks on all persons attempting to purchase a firearm. These background checks must be performed or applied by federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs). NICS: Automating the Background Checks Part of the Brady Act required the Department of Justice to establish the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) which can be accessed by any licensed firearms dealer by telephone or any other electronic means for immediate access to any criminal information on prospective gun purchasers. Data is fed into the NICS by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and state, local, and other federal law enforcement agencies. Who Cannot Buy a Gun? Between 2001 and 2011, the FBI reports that over 100 million Brady Act background checks were performed, resulting in more than 700,000 gun purchases being denied. People who may be prohibited from purchasing a firearm as a result of data obtained from the NICS background check include: Convicted felons and people under indictment for a felonyFugitives from justiceUnlawful drug users or drug addictsIndividuals who have been determined to be mentally incompetentIllegal aliens and legal aliens admitted under a non-immigrant visaIndividuals who have been dishonorably discharged from the militaryPeople who have renounced their American citizenshipPeople under domestic violence restraining ordersPeople convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes Note: Under current federal law, being listed on the FBI Terrorist Watchlist as a suspected or confirmed terrorist is not grounds for denial of a firearm purchase. Possible Outcomes of a Brady Act Background Check A Brady Act gun buyer background check can have five possible outcomes. Immediate Proceed: The check found no disqualifying information in the NICS and the sale or transfer can proceed subject to state-imposed waiting periods or other laws. Of the 2,295,013 NICS checks done during the first seven months the Brady Act was enforced, 73% resulted in an Immediate Proceed. The average processing time was 30 seconds.Delay: The FBI determined that data not immediately available in the NICS needs to be found. Delayed background checks are typically completed in about two hours.Default Proceed: When a National Instant Criminal Background Check System check cannot be completed electronically (5% of all checks), the FBI must identify and contact state and local law enforcement officials. The Brady act allows the FBI three business days to complete a background check. If the check cannot be completed within three business days, the sale or transfer may be completed although potentially disqualifying information might exist in the NICS. The dealer is not required to complete the sale and the FBI will continue to review the case for two more weeks. If the FBI discovers disqualifying information after three business days, they will contact the dealer to determine whether or not the gun was transferred under the default proceed rule.Firearm Retrieval: When the FBI finds that a dealer has transferred a gun to a prohibited person due to a default proceed situation, local law enforcement agencies, and ATF are notified and an attempt is made to retrieve the gun and take appropriate action, if any, against the buyer. During the first seven months, the NICS was in operation, 1,786 such firearms retrievals were initiated.Denial of Purchase: When the NICS check returns disqualifying information on the buyer, the gun sale is denied. During the first seven months of NICS operation, the FBI blocked 49,160 gun sales to disqualified people, a denial rate of 2.13 percent. The FBI estimates that a comparable number of sales were blocked by participating state an d local law enforcement agencies. Typical Reasons for Denial of Gun Purchases During the first seven months in which Brady Act gun buyer background checks were performed, the reasons for denial of gun purchases broke down as follows: 76 percent - Criminal history of a felony8 percent - Criminal history of domestic violence6 percent - Criminal history of other offenses (multiple DUIs, non-NCIC warrants, etc.)3 percent - Criminal history of drug abuse3 percent - Domestic violence restraining orders What About the Gun Show Loophole? While the Brady Act has blocked more than three million gun sales to prohibited purchasers since taking effect in 1994, gun control advocates contend that up to 40 percent of gun sales occur in â€Å"no questions asked† transactions that often take place over the Internet or at gun shows where, in most states, background checks are not required. As a result of this so-called â€Å"gun show loophole,† the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence estimates that about 22% of all gun sales nationwide are not subjected to Brady background checks. In an effort to close the loophole, the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2015 (H.R. 3411) was introduced in the House of Representatives on July 29, 2015. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), would require Brady Act background checks for all gun sales including sales made over the Internet and at gun shows. Since 2013, six states have enacted similar laws.

Social Darwinism in the 1920s and the Movie College by...

The idea of Social Darwinism influenced Americans, especially during early 1920’s. The idea of the survival of the fittest is showing that the body is more important to fit in society. Also, the physical fitness is considered as the key of success and a way to fit in society, if someone is not physically fit he will be isolated. The movie â€Å"College† (1927) by Buster Keaton, presents the idea of physical culture in college life and how fitness is a key of success which leads efficiency in society. During the 1920’s people thought that if the body is fit it is going to reflect to the mind and if there is fitness in society it is going to result efficiency in society. This idea resulted a society that focuses in physical training more than†¦show more content†¦Moreover, he worked in part-time jobs to follow his girlfriend to the athletic university so he won’t lose his girlfriend, but unfortunately he tried many times to fit in the society of sports but he couldn’t and people considered him as a university clown and isolated person. Social Darwinism changed the life structure for Americans from education to cultural values. Athletic universities started to appear and it was crowded by the students, who were searching for the best athletic college. For example, the universities were ranked by the number of sports’ achievements, showing that the university which everyone is going to is expensive and not for low class people. Physical culture also changed the structure of sports and sport teams became more organized and have certain rules started to appear during that period of time. Also, every team should have a coach who knows how to exercise in an efficient way, which reflects the idea of Taylorism in sport. Sports’ organizations became more exclusive and who could play sports should be were physically fit. Buster had difficulties because he was short, every time he tries to draw the attention of the coach he can’t because he is short. His abilities were limited to the other students becaus e of his physical structure. The other students were tall and physically fit but Buster was

The Effects Of Global Warming On Our Environment - 1290 Words

One of the more troubling themes of over the past few years is global warming. Global warming is the result of human activity overloading our atmosphere with carbon dioxide and other toxic emissions. These emissions trap heat, drive up Earth’s temperature, and create significant and harmful impacts on our health, our environment, and our climate. In an effort to hinder global warming, advocates have made several efforts to decrease the amount of harmful emissions being released into the atmosphere and have put pressure on the government to be involved in the fight against global warming. The U.S. Federal Government responded by making certain atmosphere-harming actions illegal and providing incentives for individuals and companies to†¦show more content†¦With the congressional budget deal extender tax breaks, the popular residential property energy tax credit was retroactively applied to 2015 and proactively extended through 2016. The two types of tax credits include the renewable energy system credits and home energy efficiency credits. Renewable Energy System Credits These federal tax credits are available for individuals who have installed equipment that uses renewable sources of energy to help power their home. These credits fall under  §25D of the Internal Revenue Code (Appendix 3), and individuals can file under Form 5695. Qualified equipment includes (1) solar hot water heaters, (2) solar electric systems, (3) geothermal heat pumps, (4) small wind energy property, and (5) fuel cell property. In order to qualify, equipment must reside in a qualified house, which is a unit located in the United States and used as the taxpayer’s primary or secondary residence. This includes existing homes and/or new construction, but does not include rentals. Certain production requirements also exist for some equipment, such as solar electric systems (which must power at least half of the residence) and fuel cell property (which must have at least 0.5kW of capacity). If installed equipment qualifies, individuals are eligible to receive credit of up t o 30% of the cost with no upper limit, including

The Euro and the Dollar free essay sample

A study of the effect of the Euro on the strength of the U.S. dollar. The author shows that since the introduction of the euro into actual usage this year, some economists and business people have worried about the effect of a unified European economy on the strength of the U.S. dollar. However, such concerns are for the most part (at the current moment) overwrought: The euro is not a serious threat to the dollar. The paper studies the history of the euro and the state of the world economy as a whole. But the euro is unlikely to dominate the economic world in the near future, in part because the job for those bankers who control the daily mechanics of the euro is a complex and difficult. The euros short history against the dollar should give those interested in the dollars relative strength much to be happy about. We will write a custom essay sample on The Euro and the Dollar or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page So, for example, while at the end of 2000 the euro seemed to be regaining its footing and the confidence of many in both the United States and Europe it faltered during the first quarter of 2001 (www.twenj.com) only to rise in fits and starts throughout the rest of last year.