Georgia Crime Information Center

INSTANT BACKGROUND CHECK

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Firearms Program was implemented by the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) on January 1, 1996, pursuant to O.C.G.A. 16-11-170 et. seq. This program provides instant background checks on persons wishing to purchase firearms, including handguns and long guns, from federally-licensed firearms dealers pursuant to Georgia law and the provisions of the federal "Brady Act". This background check is to ensure that persons prohibited by either state or federal laws are barred from purchasing firearms.

ANNUAL REPORT - CALENDAR YEAR 2001

The Georgia Firearms Program provides instant background checks on persons wishing to purchase firearms, including handguns and long guns, from federally licensed firearm dealers pursuant to Georgia law and the provisions of the federal "Brady Act". This background check is to ensure that persons prohibited by either state or federal laws are barred from purchasing a firearm.

The Firearms Program's Call Center is operational from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Sunday hours are 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Call Center is closed on Christmas Day.

On November 30, 1998, the final (permanent) provisions of the federal "Brady Act" went into effect. These provisions require an instant background check on persons wishing to purchase long guns (rifles/shotguns) as well as handguns. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established the National Instant Check System (NICS) as required by the final provisions of the "Brady Act". The NICS system made available federal databases from the Department of Defense, Immigration and Naturalization, Secret Service, Veterans Administration, Department of Transportation, and the U.S. State Department which contain information on persons prohibited from possessing firearms as a result of the following prohibitions:

Dishonorable Discharge from Military Service and Coast Guard
Illegal/Unlawful Alien
Secret Service Protective File
Mental Health and Controlled Substance Abuse
Persons Who Renounce Their Citizenship

In addition to the federal databases, the Georgia Firearms Program checks the following databases:

Georgia Criminal Histories, including Misdemeanor Family Violence Convictions
FBI Criminal Histories
Georgia Wanted Person Records
FBI Wanted Person Records
NCIC Protection Order Records
Georgia Mental Health - Involuntary Hospitalizations

The Georgia Firearms Program received and processed 209,202 requests for background checks on firearm purchases and transfers from federally licensed firearm dealers throughout the State of Georgia during 2001. The Call Center received 101,438 initial calls for background check inquiries and the remaining 107,764 requests were submitted electronically via point of sale terminals.

Automated License Systems (ALS) (formerly VeriFAX, LLC ) of Nashville, Tennessee provides an on-line instant background check for the large volume firearm dealers by use of a Point of Sale (POS) terminal installed at the firearm dealers' place of business. This POS terminal allows the firearm dealer to enter and receive the same information he would receive from a Firearms Program Call Center Operator, without having to call the operator. This saves the firearm dealer and the Firearms Program both time and expenses. This service is at no additional cost to the firearm dealer. The 107,764 electronic POS requests processed through ALS represented 52% of the total transactions received during 2001.

The instant background checks resulted in 200,657 or 96% being approved for the sale of a firearm. A total of 8,545, or 4%, resulted in a denial of the sale. Of the total approvals, 139,176 or 67% were approved instantly. The remainder required research to determine if any of the databases contained information that would prohibit the firearms sale. The percentage of instant approvals increased 7% over 2000 and had reached 73% by December 2001. These increases are due to efforts expended by GCIC to improve completeness of criminal history records as well as more efficient flagging and screening of both arrest records and wanted records.

The following is a synopsis of the Firearms Program's activity for 2001.

Total Firearms Transactions	209,202
Handgun Transactions Long gun Transactions Dual Transactions*	78,286 128,230 2,686
Total Transactions Approved	200,657
Handguns Approved Long guns Approved Dual Transactions Approved	74,327 123,735 2,595
Total Transactions Denied	8,545
Handguns Denied Long guns Denied Dual Transactions Denied	3,959 4,495 91

* Sale of multiple firearms to include at least one handgun and one long gun

Reason for Denial

Reason	Handguns	Long Guns	Dual Transactions	Total
Felony Conviction	787	992	21	1,800
Felony Arrest	2,597	2,863	60	5,520
Outstanding Felony Warrant	70	53	2	125
Mental Health Reasons	7	4	1	12
Family Violence Related	450	535	6	991
NICS Denied Person	48	48	1	97

The Firearms Program collected a total of $968,955.01 in instant background check fees from firearm dealers during 2001. This total was remitted to the State General Treasury. Firearms dealers are billed monthly at the rate of $5.00 for each instant background check performed. The firearm dealer charges this fee to the prospective purchaser. The estimated cost for conducting the research and completion of records to determine the eligibility of the purchaser is $796,345.00. This includes personal services for GCIC staff as well as federal grant funds used to collect delinquent dispositions.

The Firearms Program has not received any court orders to amend either criminal history or involuntary hospitalization records resulting from a person being denied a firearm. The GBI provides resources dedicated to pursuing incomplete information in Georgia criminal history records as necessary to determine the eligibility of the potential buyer to purchase a handgun. In addition, all requests for record amendments submitted by purchasers were completed.

During 2001, nineteen (19) of the felony warrants identified during the background check process resulted in arrests by local law enforcement officials after notification by the Firearms Program. Felony warrants included felony offenses for forgery, theft, fraud, transporting of alcoholic beverages, weapons offense and deposit account fraud. Notification of 45 additional non-felony warrants also resulted in arrests.

A 2000 change to O.C.G.A. 16 -11-131 made it a felony for any person convicted of a forcible felony, or on first offender probation for a forcible felony as defined in this statute, to attempt to purchase a firearm. In January 2001, as part of the Georgia Firearms Program, the GCIC implemented a notification program to local law enforcement and prosecutors when a convicted forcible felon attempted to purchase a firearm. The notification program also became a component of the Governor's Georgia Gun Crime Reduction Initiative.

During 2001, 457 or 25% of those individuals denied a firearm purchase/transfer because of a felony conviction were convicted of forcible felony offenses. Notifications on each were sent to the appropriate law enforcement and prosecutor's office for possible criminal investigation and/or any further law enforcement action deemed appropriate. To date, 80 arrests for the felony attempt to purchase have been reported to GCIC. An additional 33 individuals were currently on active probation or parole and the appropriate probation/parole officer was notified.

2001 Total Firearms Transactions

Firearms Transactions by Type

Total Telephone Calls vs. Total Point of Sale Transactions

Firearms Approvals vs. Non-Approvals

Reasons For Non-Approvals

2001 Number of Reported Arrests

Form for Appealing A Firearm Transfer Denial

The Annual Reports and statistics for years 1996 through 1999 are also available. Choose the year you would like to view from the list below.