ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 4:30 P.M. EDT |
BJS |
SUNDAY, June 4, 2000 |
202/307-0784 |
MORE THAN 200,000 FIREARMS APPLICATIONS REJECTED IN 1999 Defendants Charged with Federal Firearms Offenses Increased from 1998 to 1999
WASHINGTON, D.C. Approximately
536,000 of the more than 22.2 million individual applications to purchase or pawn firearms have been rejected based on federal, state or local laws since the inception of the Brady
Act in February 1994.
Also, at least 6,728 defendants were charged with firearms offenses
in United States district courts in 1999 up from 6, 297 defendants in 1998.
Between 1992 and 1997 the number of defendants charged with a firearm
offense decreased before increasing in 1998 and 1999.
This information comes from two separate reports released today by
the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).
Firearm Background Checks
In 1999, of the 123,000 rejections made by state and local agencies,
73 percent were rejected because of a felony conviction or indictment.
Domestic violence convictions or restraining orders accounted for 11 percent
of these rejections; and 4 percent were due to state or local law prohibitions.
During 1999, slightly less than half of the firearms applications were
screened through state or local points of contact (POCs); the rest of the
checks were handled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through
its National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Of the approximately 8.6 million applications to transfer firearms in
1999, about 204,000 (2.4 percent ) were rejected. The rejection rate among
state or local POCs was 3.0 percent; at the federal level it was 1.8 percent.
State POCs have access to more detailed criminal history records than the
FBI, and more than two-thirds of the U.S. population are in the 26 states that
do their own background checks for handguns.
Firearm Offense Prosecutions
During 1998, the most recent year for which complete data are
available, 85 percent, or 5,419, of the 6,397 firearms defendants were
charged with a firearms possession offense, half of whom were charged with
using a firearm during a violent offense or a drug offense (18 U.S.C. 924(c)).
Seven percent of the 1998 firearm defendants were charged with unlawfully
receiving or transferring a firearm (18 U.S.C. 922).
From 1992 through 1999, among defendants charged with illegally
possessing a firearm, 48 percent were charged with using a firearm during a
violent crime or during a drug trafficking offense (18 U.S.C. 924), 44
percent were charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm, 8 percent with
having an unregistered firearm, 3 percent with possessing a firearm with an
altered or obliterated serial number and 3 percent with having stolen
firearms. (Because of multiple charges against some defendants these
percentages do not total 100 percent.) In 1998, 61percent of those charged
with unlawful possession also were charged with other offenses, such as
drug trafficking (54 percent), bank robbery (21 percent) and racketeering (9
percent).
Of those convicted of unlawfully receiving or transferring a firearm
during 1998, 47 percent were prohibited from possessing a firearm, 19
percent had made straw purchases (that is, bought firearms for someone
else), 6 percent were gun store merchants who had made illegal deals and 28
percent were other people unlawfully selling firearms, e.g. unlicensed
dealers.
Between 1992 and 1997 the number of defendants charged with a
firearms offense decreased 19 percent (from 7,621 to 5,993). A reason for
this decline was the December 1995 Supreme Court decision (Bailey v.
United States) that limited prosecutors' ability to charge defendants with
using a firearm during a violent or drug offense. After this decision,
prosecutors began using sentence enhancements to compensate for the loss
of this charge. Overall, the number of defendants who received an enhanced
sentence for weapon use under the Federal sentencing guidelines increased
31 percent. The increased use of the sentencing guideline enhancement
offsets the decreased use of 18 U.S.C. 924(c) as a result of Bailey. It is
estimated that 2,500 more defendants would have been charged with
possession under 924(c) between 1995 and 1998 if the Supreme Court had
ruled differently in the Bailey case.
Between 1992 and 1998 the proportion of convicted firearm
defendants sentenced to prison increased from 85 percent to 91 percent. In
1998 the firearms defendants sentenced to prison were given, on average,
terms of 100 months up from an average of 79 months from 1992. Those
defendants convicted during 1998 of using a firearm in a violent or drug
offense were sentenced to an average of 110 months in addition to any other
sentence imposed for the violent or drug offense.
In 1998, 198 firearms defendants were sentenced as armed career
criminals, offenders convicted of unlawfully possessing a firearm and having
had three prior convictions for violent felonies or serious drug offenses.
These defendants were sentenced to serve an average of 215 months in
prison.
The federal Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits the sale of firearms to
any person who (1) is a juvenile, (2) is a fugitive from justice, (3) is under
indictment for, or has been convicted of, a crime punishable by
imprisonment for more than one year, (4) is an unlawful user of a controlled
substance, (5) has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a
mental institution, (6) is an alien unlawfully in the United States, (7) was
discharged from the armed services under dishonorable conditions, (8) has
renounced U.S. citizenship, (9) is subject to a court order restraining him or
her from harassing, stalking or threatening an intimate partner or child or
(10) is a person who has been convicted of domestic violence.
"Background Checks of Firearm Transfers, 1999" (NCJ-180882),
was prepared by Lea S. Gifford and Devon B. Adams, of BJS, as well as
Gene Lauver and Michael Bowling, of the Regional Justice Information
Service, a criminal justice agency commissioned by the city and county of
St. Louis, Missouri. "Federal Firearm Offenders, 1992-98--With
Preliminary Data for 1999" (NCJ-180795), was written by BJS statistician
John Scalia. Single copies of the reports may be obtained from the BJS fax-
on-demand system by dialing 301/519-5550, listening to the complete menu
and selecting document numbers 205 and 206. Or call the BJS
clearinghouse at 1-800-851-3420. Fax orders for mail delivery to 410/492-
4358.
After 4:30 p.m. June 4 the full report may be obtained from the BJS Internet site at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
Additional
criminal justice materials can be obtained from the Office of Justice
Programs homepage at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
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BJS01158
After hours contact: Stu Smith at 301/983-9354
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