US authorities fault gun background-check system

A US Justice Department report faulted local authorities Wednesday for failing to update a federal database used in background checks for gun sales, sometimes with "tragic consequences."

The inspector general's report cited the June 2015 mass slaying at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina as one such case.

Dylan Roof, a white supremacist who shot and killed nine churchgoers in cold blood, should not have been authorized to buy guns since he had been arrested previously for a drug offense.

The FBI has conducted more than 230 million background checks since November 1998, refusing 1.3 million sales in a country where guns outnumber people ©T.J. Kirkpatrick (Getty/AFP/File)

But the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) "lacked timely and accurate data from local agencies that could have prevented the alleged shooter from purchasing the gun he allegedly used," the report said.

In a sample of 631 state-processed gun sales, the Justice Department found that "in 630 of them the states did not fully update the NICS database or inform the FBI of the transaction's outcome."

The FBI has conducted more than 230 million background checks since November 1998, refusing 1.3 million sales in a country where guns outnumber people.

On one day alone -- December 23, 2015 -- the authorities conducted 151,061 background checks of customers doing Christmas shopping.

The NICS requires federally approved gun dealers to ask potential customers to fill out forms that are transmitted to the national database.

Administered by the FBI, NICS checks would-be buyers' legal and psychological records before authorizing sales. Although the process usually takes minutes, it can last up to several days.

Those denied authorization may appeal file appeals that are directed to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF.

According to the report, however, the FBI and ATF disagree about the definition of a fugitive from justice, resulting in 2,183 sales the FBI believed should have been blocked from November 1999 to May 2015.

In many states, even basic background checks are not required for private sales and purchases at gun fairs.