(NewsGlobal.com)- The FBI will now have access to the personal information of all individuals who have been denied the right to purchase a firearm from firearms dealers that are licensed by the federal government.
Gun rights groups are especially alarmed at this new revelation that the FBI will have access to the addresses of the people who are not just denied the ability to purchase a gun but also have their transactions delayed.
After the FBI obtains this information, they’re also then required to provide that information over to local law enforcement officials.
The FBI made these changes to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS so that it would be in compliance with a new federal law. The NICS was set up to help with background checks in seeing whether people who are applying to purchase a firearm are prohibited from doing so, for whatever reason.
Based on the results of those NICS checks, a person may be outright denied access, their purchase may be delayed, or they could be ultimately approved for that purchase.
But, back in March, President Joe Biden signed a new law that Congress passed that included a provision called the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act, or VAWA. In that provision is a little-talked-about measure labeled the NICS Denial Notification Act.
That act mandates that the NICS Section of the FBI has to alert local and state law enforcement agencies any time someone is denied a gun purchase, and it must do so within 24 hours of the denial being made. The idea behind the bill, government officials have said, is to stop gun crimes by convicted criminals or would-be criminals before they ever happen.
The Gun Owners of America obtained an email from the FBI that sought to elaborate about how they will implement the new law. The email reads:
“The NICS Denial Notification Act of 2022 requires the FBI’s NICS Section to notify state, local or tribal law enforcement of all FBI NICS denied transactions within 24 hours. The FBI must provide notification to law enforcement based upon the location of the FFL and if different, the purchaser’s address.”
The FBI then went on to explain that these FFLs have to then provide all addresses of the purchasers to federal government agencies.
The email continued:
“To support the determination of what local agency should receive the notification, FFLs will be required to provide the buyer’s complete address to NICS as recorded on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Form 4473 when transactions are denied or delayed.
“The address information will be required before the status can be provided or retrieved either by the NICS contracted call center or via the NICS E-Check.”
Before this new law went into effect, the firearms dealers only had to provide a state of residence for customers, not their complete address, when a denial or delay occurred.
