The feds stopped processing NICS appeals in 2016, according to a new lawsuit (Photo: FBI Facebook)
In the wake of the 2015 mass murder at a church in Charleston, S.C., lawmakers have called for an end to the 72-hour background check rule.
Opponents argue that giving the FBI unlimited time to complete a NICS check could indefinitely suspend a citizen’s Second Amendment rights, and now a new lawsuit is shedding light on just how incompetent the feds can be.
Stamboulieh Law, PLLC, has filed a suit against the FBI on behalf of five individuals who were denied purchase of a firearm and given no way to appeal. According to the suit, the FBI stopped processing denial appeals in early 2016, and has since shifted the burden to gun purchasers to determine whether they are a prohibited person.
In one case, a man named Gary James LeComte was denied purchase of a firearm, and his appeal was also denied. Then, the FBI sent him another letter stating that they had resolved some prohibitory matters but were still concerned with two arrests from 1975.
Rather than looking into these arrests themselves, as required by law, they requested LeComte to provide documentation proving that neither of these arrests resulted in felony convictions.
As the suite points out, “The FBI has improperly shifted its burden to LeComte to prove he is not a prohibited person with records which may or may not exist contrary to the FBI’s burden of researching and finding these records on its own.”
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Another plaintiff, Daniel A. Umbert, is a Florida-licensed attorney and is in good standing with the Florida State Bar. He was denied a suppressor purchase by the ATF and appealed the decision to the FBI. Because the feds are no longer processing appeals, his purchase still hasn’t gone through and he has no way of restoring his Second Amendment rights.
“For someone in his position as an active member of the Bar in good standing, an erroneous belief of the federal government that he is a prohibited person could cause significant issues in his life,” the suit notes.
The decision has also “chilled his constitutionally protected activity of owning or possessing firearms because he does not want to be falsely arrested and/or prosecuted for enjoying his rights secured by the Second Amendment.”
Stamboulieh Law says they have received correspondence from at least a hundred people with similar complaints.
Still, some federal officials believe the FBI can be trusted to complete background checks in a timely manner.
Democratic Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy introduced in October what they call the “No Check, No Sale” bill. The law would remove the option for gun dealers to release a firearm to a customer if the FBI has not been able to complete a background check within 72 hours.
“It’s pretty simple — if you can’t pass a background check, you shouldn’t be able to get a gun,” Murphy told the New Haven Register. “It’s a matter of political power, and Republicans are blocking every effort to change our gun laws.”
Murphy and Co. might meet less resistance if gun owners had any confidence in the FBI’s ability to complete background checks fairly and efficiently. As this most recent lawsuit proves, the fewer federal bureaucrats standing between law-abiding citizens and the Second Amendment, the better.
Correct, the FBI suspended my right to purchase and carry some months ago because one in NJ had a protective order filed against him in 1997 and we have the same name and birthdate. I have had to remove all my guns from my home because the Protection order appears on my Kentucky driver’s license and if stopped in possession if face the possibility of arrest. The prohibitor in NJ a sheriff’s office is unable to help and befuddled. My challenge was once again denied by the FBI and the sheriff’s office had not heard from them. I sent them photos ID my SSN and my DD-214 from my time in the USMC. The person this applies to is 5’8 170 lbs with blond hair and blue eyes and as my Ky license states, I am 6’2 240 with brown hair and hazel eyes. This thing called the FBI is broken and needs to be dissolved.
Holy cow! All anyone has to do is look around current events and see that the FBI has become a political tool for the Democrat party.
The FBI can no longer be counted on to do the right thing
Hammer a crooked Republican? I’m all for it. No guilty person in politics should get a pass from the FBI,they owe that to the American people. Hoiw ever the FBI has chosen to hammer selectively and influence politics with FBI leaderships personnel views and politics. THEY HAVE BECOME WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO ARREST AND JAIL!
How sad a once great law enforcement agency is now a running joke deserving no respect.
I have been waiting patiently over 12 months and counting to receive my suppressor. I’m told by my FFL that the current waiting time to receive approval now is 12 – 16 months if you apply under a Trust. My buddy received his suppressor in 9 months (he filed as an individual) I did everything by the book. When I’m in the rare mood to sell/purchase a new weapon (and no I don’t have an arsenal) I can buy/sell a gun at a gun show or FFL with no problem. So why is it taking all this time at the federal level. I knew a minimum 9 month wait period was normal when I asked how long it usually takes to received ATF approval. All I get from the website is “Pending”. The person who answers the phone at the ATF can’t answer any questions I ask: “Why the delay; Is there something in their investigation causing the delay?”. Nothing. It frustrating. I have over $,1000.00 invested in the suppressor, tax stamp and fee to register the Trust.
I am a retired Navy veteran, no criminal background (not even a speeding ticket), held a TS/SCI security clearance, have a CCW permit and here I sit waiting. My wife and I are the only members of the Trust. Her background is clean also. We both love to hit the gun range to practice and have some fun. I felt a suppressor would protect my hearing while hunting so I finally invested in one. Now I’m second guessing did I make a bad choice and tie up funds I could have used for other pleasures.
I support the Second Amendment, background checks and sensible gun control measures. Due to all the recent negative gun related events, knee jerk legislation to make people feel good is not the answer. Enforce the laws already on the books, severally prosecute offenders of illegal gun activity. Don’t penalize law abiding, gun owning citizens in the process!
There is some guy in NY, NY with the same exact name as mine. For the last eight years or so, every firearm purchase I make is initially turned down by the FBI. My local FFL I by through always has to explain to them that I do not live in NY and that I have never been arrested and have no record. I always get approved subsequently, but the process is about five minutes longer than it should be.
For 66 years I have trusted Everyone, but I have a rule, screw with me and I will notice, and that will end the trust. Now all these years later I have learned not to Trust anything to do with Governmenet, and that means the Left, The Right, and The Center. Trump is a classic, as I wanted him to win, yet I knew he was Lying Big Time from Day One. Anything to do with any LE has to be second guessed as everyone is out for themselves first. Now I support our LE and our FBI, but I do not fully trust any of them.
The FBI can’t be trusted at all. They are stooges and lapdogs of democrats Hillary the hag… and criminal empire”
It’s their way to delay anyone from making gun purchases . In order to make buyers annoyed enough that
will not buy gun’s .
It’s very hard to understand with the computer age it takes forever to get any paperwork done , since all is
sent in through a computer .
The game for them is delay , delay , delay for as long they can .
Sorry to use the word game , but it’s their kind of game oops..
One more reason to abolish the FBI.
The federal government was established for the people, by the people. But now it only responds to corporations. It does nothing while states like California, New Jersey, and others infringe the Constitution. I was listening when a petty bureaucrat named Ajit Pai told me that I had lost control of my government, and that it no longer cared what the people had to say. I think Abraham Lincoln was right, in that he said our destruction would come from within. I think there are a lot of good people working in our government, but key positions are held by sycophants, incompetents, and venal bureaucrats & politicians who have sold us out.
National Instant Check System overseen by the Federal Bureau of Investigations needs to be overhauled. Too many left over tyrants denying peoples’ rights from when Obama was President. Thank goodness he left in 2016 but now we need to clean house.
There are many Obama appointees left in government, scattered throughout the various agencies. President Trump should have done as most presidents do upon being sworn in. He should have thanked them for their service and replaced them with people that share his way of thinking. We have seen the results of not doing so – especially in the DOJ and FBI, which have a direct impact on how the second amendment is interpreted (even though the framers expressly said they wanted the constitution to be interpreted as written.
democraps weaponized the government agency’s to screw conservatives and take stranglehold on to power. obozo was a traitor and muzrat sympathizer. Rope and tree for traitors IMHO
democrats are the enemy of the USA’s law abiding -hard working HONEST taxpayer.
Time to DESTROY the destroyers of the USA