FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                        AG
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1997
                                            Myron Marlin, Justice (202) 616-2777
                                            Beth Weaver, Treasury (202) 622-2960	
                                            Mark Weaver, Ohio AG  (614) 466-3840		   		

	
OHIO BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR HANDGUN PURCHASERS


TOTAL 100% WITH FEDERAL-STATE-LOCAL COOPERATIVE EFFORT








	WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno,
Secretary of the Treasury Robert E. Rubin, and Ohio Attorney
General Betty D. Montgomery today announced an agreement to
ensure that all prospective handgun purchasers in Ohio will again
undergo a background check before being allowed to obtain a
handgun from a firearms dealer.  This agreement ensures
background checks for the five to ten percent of Ohio handgun
purchasers who are currently unwilling to agree voluntarily to
such checks.

	"Under today's agreement, the federal government and Ohio
will work together to make sure that every person who seeks to
buy a handgun from a firearms dealer will undergo a background
check," said Rubin.

	"This cooperative agreement recognizes that background
checks are an important part of effective law enforcement. 
Ohio's 100 percent background check coverage will protect public
safety and assist our efforts to curb violent crime," said Reno.

	Following the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision overturning
the Brady Act's requirement that state or local officials conduct
background checks, Ohio Attorney General Montgomery's office
determined that she lacked the authority to conduct criminal
background checks on handgun purchasers who refused to give
consent.   The Ohio Attorney General's office, through its Bureau
of Criminal Identification and Investigation ("BCI&I"), resumed
voluntary background checks within 48 hours, and now over 90
percent of prospective handgun purchasers have signed the
necessary waiver to have their backgrounds checked.

	"After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the mandatory
provisions of the Brady law, a different approach was required in
Ohio to keep guns out of the hands of criminals," Montgomery
said.  "Our two-day check will continue to cover the majority of
handgun purchasers who agree to a background check, while this
federal-state-local cooperative agreement will check the
backgrounds of the remaining five to ten percent."

	Acting under the terms of a federal-state-local memorandum
of understanding, BCI&I will forward to the Franklin County
Sheriff the names of those few prospective handgun purchasers who
do not consent to a background check.  The Franklin County
Sheriff will conduct a background check of non-consenting
purchasers using national criminal history databases maintained
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  If this review yields
information indicating that a prospective handgun purchaser may
be disqualified by law from receiving or possessing a firearm,
the Franklin County Sheriff will immediately notify BCI&I.  Since
BCI&I would then have information that a crime may have been
committed, BCI&I will review this information and take further
appropriate steps if necessary.

	According to Department of Justice surveys, background
checks have prevented gun sales to over a quarter of a million
felons, fugitives and others who are prohibited from receiving or
possessing them.  While, in Ohio, less than half of one percent
of all background checks result in a handgun disqualification,
Ohio background checks have blocked well over 1,000 criminals and
other prohibited persons from illegally obtaining handguns from
firearms dealers.

	Although no longer required to perform background checks on
prospective handgun purchasers under the Brady Act, over 90
percent of law enforcement officials in states affected by the
U.S. Supreme Court's decision concerning the Brady Act
nonetheless continue to perform these checks voluntarily,
according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.  "The
fact that the overwhelming majority of affected law enforcement
agencies are doing background checks voluntarily, demonstrates
that law enforcement believes these checks are a worthwhile crime
prevention tool," said Reno.

	"We are pleased to report that, with this agreement,
approximately 98 percent of the United States population now
resides in a jurisdiction where law enforcement officials
continue to perform background checks on prospective handgun
purchasers," Rubin continued.

	"This agreement should encourage other states and localities
that terminated background checks last June to resume them," said
Reno.

	Reno, Rubin and Montgomery said that the agreement was also
important because it demonstrated that cooperation and sharing of
resources among law enforcement officials can be highly effective
in preventing and curbing crime.

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97-541