{"id":83272,"date":"2017-12-06T15:19:13","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T20:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/blog\/?p=83272"},"modified":"2017-12-06T15:19:13","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T13:10:57","slug":"usa-today-peddles-exclusive-non-story-fbi-firearm-seizures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/usa-today-peddles-exclusive-non-story-fbi-firearm-seizures\/","title":{"rendered":"USA Today Peddles ‘Exclusive’ Non-Story about FBI Firearm Seizures"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"USA<\/a>

In the age of the Internet, three days is plenty of time for the FBI to conduct a background check. (Photo: FBI<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n

In what appears to be an effort to garner clicks in the wake of the Texas church shooting, USA Today published an \u201cexclusive\u201d article<\/a> based on a seven-month-old public document from the FBI.<\/p>\n

The document outlines the number of firearm retrieval requests the FBI sent to the ATF in 2016. While the 4,170 requests does represent a sharp rise since last year, as the Washington Free Beacon<\/a> points out, it doesn\u2019t indicate an overall increase in botched background checks for firearms purchases.<\/p>\n

Kevin Johnson, the author of the USA Today article, uses his \u201cexclusive\u201d evidence in an attempt prove that the three-day waiting period does not give the FBI enough time to conduct a background check.<\/p>\n

Under the current system, the FBI has three days to determine whether a potential firearm purchaser is permitted to own a firearm under federal law. If they fail to reach a conclusion within three business days, the sale can go forward.<\/p>\n

But the FBI doesn\u2019t stop the background check after the three-day waiting period. If they determine that the purchaser cannot legally own a firearm, they send a retrieval request to the ATF to seize the firearm from the purchaser.<\/p>\n

Johnson notes that the FBI made 4,170 such requests last year, up from 2,892 in 2015. He argues that the rise in requests \u201chighlight persistent problems in a system where analysts must complete background checks within three days of the proposed purchase.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson also includes a quote from former assistant FBI director Stephen Morris to emphasize the seriousness of the \u201cproblem.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO:\u00a0AG Jeff Sessions Orders FBI, ATF to Review NICS<\/a><\/h2>\n

\u201cThey [the FBI] are very aware of the inherent risk to law enforcement officers when they (seek) a firearm retrieval,” said Morris, who recently oversaw the bureau’s background check operation based in West Virginia. “They feel tremendous pressure to make a determination” within the three-day period.<\/p>\n

But Johnson fails to mention that last year\u2019s request number doesn\u2019t depart from the historic average as much as he would have his readers believe.<\/p>\n