FBI Database Problem Halts Gun Sales Nationwide

All gun sales have been halted nationwide since Thursday afternoon because an internal software problem in the FBI criminal history database has temporarily stopped instant background checks of gun buyers, the FBI said Friday.

The FBI’s Interstate Identification Index, a database that has the criminal histories of 36 million people, is expected to be working again tonight or Sunday morning, FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said.

“It was an internal database problem, not the result of a hacking or external attack,” Bresson said.

Gun dealers said they have been telling customers to wait until the system is working again.

The computer failure made it impossible to check the criminal histories for felony convictions that bar people from buying guns. Also brought down by the software problem was the FBI’s automated fingerprint identification system.

The background check system, established under the Brady law to determine whether prospective buyers are legally eligible to purchase guns, depends on the Interstate Identification Index in its search for felony convictions.

Although gun store owners in only about half the states file their background check inquiries directly with the FBI, the failure affected checks in all 50 states. In states where gun dealers place background check requests with a state police agency, that state agency checks the FBI’s criminal histories by computer in addition to its own records before approving or disapproving the sale.