Gun Store Employees' Background Check Now to Be NICS

There are a lot of jobs out there that require a background check of some sort. For example, I want to know the person teaching my kids isn't some kind of a creep that shouldn't be allowed in the same state as a child. I don't have a huge issue with them for some jobs, but others require them, and they probably shouldn't, such as being a clerk in a gun store. Then again, with the law still determining that some people can't even lawfully touch a gun, it's inevitable.

But gun stores have a background check system right there. NICS is supposedly good enough to weed out prohibited gun buyers, but it wasn't considered good enough to weed them out if it came to providing someone with a paycheck.

At least, up until now.

NSSF^®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, announced today that the Firearm Handler Check (FHC) Final Rule will be published tomorrow in the Federal Register, the culmination of a long-sought, NSSF-led effort to improve firearm industry and community safety. The FHC Final Rule will allow all federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to run background check verifications on current and prospective employees through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Previously, NICS was only utilized to run background checks on prospective firearm purchasers. NSSF long advocated for the ability of FFLs to run background checks on their own employees and prospective hires to ensure no prohibited individuals could have access to firearm inventory at licensed premises. The FHC Final Rule has an effective date of 30 days from tomorrow. A public inspection version of the rule can be viewed here and the Final Rule will not vary.

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NSSF fought to have the provision included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) that was signed into law in 2022 and has been pushing to get the Final Rule published since that time. NSSF also secured a provision in the BSCA that allows licensed firearm businesses to check firearm serial numbers against the database of firearms that have been reported as stolen. NSSF will closely monitor and alert our members when important information becomes available.

This was published yesterday, which means everything is already in the works as we speak.

And, honestly, there's no reason why this shouldn't have been the case already. If the NICS check is good enough to decide who can own a firearm, it should be more than enough to determine who can sell them. These aren't new cars, where the people selling them get to take them home at the end of the day. Everything is logged into and out of the store, so I don't see why we'd need something more elaborate.

It's also about the only good thing that came out of the BSCA, and it's really only good for the employees and employers at gun stores. It doesn't do a hell of a lot for us except make it easier for gun stores to bring new people on. They don't have to go through the rigamarole of getting a background check. Rather, they step over to their computer, or they pick up a phone and run a background check right then and there, get the results back within a few minutes (sometimes, at least), then say, "When can you start?"

It might mean the wait for help at your local store might get a little shorter.

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