Legal > Brady Law
The GCA was amended in 1993 by the "Brady Law" that provided for, on an interim basis, a 5-day waiting period on the transfer of a handgun by a Federal firearms licensee to a nonlicensee. 18 U.S.C. 922(s). The purpose of the 5-day waiting period is to give State and local law enforcement officials the opportunity to perform a criminal records check on the purchaser before the gun is sold. The 5-day waiting period provisions of the Brady law expire in November 1998 and will be replaced with a national instant-check system for all firearms sales. 18 U.S.C. 922(t).
