Background Checks Bar 186,000 Gun Sales
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WASHINGTON — Police background checks since 1994 have blocked more than 186,000 illegal over-the-counter gun sales, 72% by would-be buyers who were convicted or indicted for a felony, the Justice Department estimated Tuesday.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that 6,600 applications to buy handguns or long guns are rejected each month, not only in the 32 states covered by the federal Brady law, which authorizes background checks of gun buyers, but also in those states that have their own similar laws.
The figures cover the 28 months from Feb. 28, 1994, when the Brady law took effect, through last June.
Besides the rejections linked to felonies, fugitives accounted for 6% of the rejections.
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