Feds' "Instant Check" Scheme
On Gun Sales Is Anything But

AUSTIN — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is advising sportsmen — and the same heads-up applies to ranchers, of course — that the federal government's new "instant check" system for firearms purchases could foil last-minute buying plans.

An outgrowth of the "Brady Bill," the so-called "instant check" system which takes effect Nov. 30 will apply not only to handguns but to rifle and shotgun purchases, and even to redemption of pawned guns.

It may also be anything but instant.

Pro-firearms organizations such as the National Rifle Association, along with many conservative members of Congress, unable to stop the Brady Bill under a Democratic majority, were nevertheless able to temper it with an "instant check" program. That provision traded what was supposed to be an instant criminal background check for an automatic expiration of the Brady waiting period after five years.

Anti-gun forces accepted the package as a price for the votes of some "moderate" senators and congressmen, assuming they could renew the waiting period before it expired. That never happened, however, as Republicans captured both houses of Congress in 1994, and no anti-gun legislation has passed since.

The waiting period is now set to lapse, and the "instant check" to take its place.

Through bureaucratic decrees and unfettered rulemaking, however, the anti-gunners have managed to corrupt the "instant check" provision enough to make it almost as onerous as the handgun waiting period it will replace.

Some critics might consider it worse than the waiting period, in fact, because it extends criminal background checks to long guns and other transactions beyond outright purchases. It also provides a mechanism and the computer system necessary to compile information on firearms purchases into a national registration system. Such a scheme has been expressly prohibited by law, but the potential concerns many firearms owners and organizations.

In addition, the FBI, which has been assigned "instant check" duties, immediately announced that it would charge fees for the mandated "service," estimated to cost $16 or more per transaction. The FBI also quickly dumped the pretense that the "instant" checks would be instant, advising firearms dealers that they may expect to wait up to several days for approvals.

None of this should have surprised anyone, given the penchant among federal agencies to ignore unwelcome provisions of the laws they are charged with enforcing. Ranchers and businessmen may remember when Congress specifically forbade the IRS from requiring detailed mileage logs to substantiate business deductions for vehicles and the revenuers boldly announced that they would do so anyway. Firearms dealers have seen the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms spend six months approving a license that the law specifically states must be approved or denied in no more than six weeks, and the list goes on.

Congress has since called the FBI on its fee scheme, which critics have compared to a hidden tax on gun buyers. Reasoning that the benefits of criminal background checks — if any — are supposed to accrue to society as a whole rather than to the firearms buyers themselves, Congress in the recently passed omnibus appropriations bill added a provision forbidding background check fees.

The potential for snooping and bureaucratic foot-dragging on "instant check" approval still remains, however, meaning prospective firearms buyers have the choice of making their purchases before Nov. 30 or facing the possibility of unexpected delays and clandestine recordkeeping.

The FBI, for example, has given itself up to three days to respond to a dealer inquiry, and whether or not it will comply with even that leisurely schedule remains to be seen. Under the current administration, the agency has been dangerously politicized, and the political philosophy that dominates it today is devoutly anti-gun.

The following is a summary of the major provisions of the new "National Instant Background Check System," or NICS (Yes, we noticed that even the abbreviation doesn't match the name, but as with illegal campaign funds, there's probably no "controlling legal authority" for abbreviations, either.)

* An NICS check is valid for 30 days, however, a separate check will be required for each transaction.

* Any rented or loaned firearm for use in sporting activities off-premises, such as trap, sporting clays or hunting, is subject to NICS.

* Any firearm that is returned in exchange for a different firearm is subject to a new NICS check.

* All firearms redeemed from a pawnshop or purchased at a gun show are subject to NICS.

On the positive side:

* Repair to a firearm, such as mounting a scope, is not subject to NICS.

* Individuals possessing a valid Texas concealed handgun permit are exempt from NICS.

* No fee will be assessed with NICS (thanks to Congress).

"We always want hunters to prepare early and no matter what type of check system is in place, you should have your equipment ready well before the hunting season starts," offered Steve Hall, education program director with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

"But, if you do make a last-minute purchase or repair, you may have an unavoidable delay."

A complete summary of amendments to the NICS system may be found on the Internet at www.atf.treas.gov/core/regulations/brady_regs.htm.