Licensed firearms dealers must request an FBI background check for each buyer

[forum_admin]

U.S. lawmakers requested the audit to show how people on the watch list can be stopped from boarding airplanes but not from buying guns. Under federal law, licensed firearms dealers must request an FBI background check for each buyer but cannot legally stop a purchase solely because someone is on the watch list. The study found that people on the list purchased firearms 865 times in 963 attempts over a five-year period ending in February.

Those who were denied gun purchases were disqualified for other reasons, such as a felony conviction, a drug violation or being an illegal immigrant.

Chris W. Cox, the National Rifle Association's chief lobbyist, said that his group opposes terrorists having access to firearms but that many people are placed on the watch list erroneously. The NRA cited a Justice Department inspector general's report in March that found that about 24,000 of 400,000 people on the list -- or about 6 percent -- were named based on outdated or irrelevant information in FBI files, sometimes after their cases had been closed.

More info:
GAO Cites Gun Sales to Those on Watch List (washingtonpost.com)