The proponents of the current gun control proposals are claiming that "straw purchasers", the mentally ill and felons obtaining weapons illegally through gun show "loop holes" are the big problem.
In the debates that led up to the 1994 Brady Act they claimed essentially the same thing, and that the measures of the act were necessary to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, the mentally ill. illegal aliens and the dishonorably discharged. How'd it go?
A year after the Act went into effect the General Accounting Office undertook a study on its own initiate to see what affects the Act was having.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GGD-96-22/html/GAOREPORTS-GGD-96-22.htmThe law enforcement agencies in GAO's survey cumulatively denied 19,740 (4.3 percent) of the 457,020 applications processed during the first year of Brady's implementation.
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Among the 15 jurisdictions, 6 jurisdictions denied applications because of outstanding misdemeanor warrants. For four of the jurisdictions, the available data did not enable GAO to determine the nature of the warrants. For the other two, GAO found that all of the denials were for unpaid parking tickets and other traffic offenses.
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With limited exceptions, law enforcement officers in the 15 jurisdictions told GAO they relied solely on criminal history records in conducting background checks because no databases were available for searching the other prohibited categories, such as illegal aliens and dishonorably discharged veterans. The exceptions involve four jurisdictions in which law enforcement officials also routinely checked for mental history disqualification by using records from local courts and/or from state- or county-operated mental health facilities.
Straw purchasers, i.e., those who lie on their 4473 and other forms?
On the basis of queries to ATF's field offices, ATF headquarters staff told GAO that as of July 1995, a total of at least seven persons (nationally) had been successfully prosecuted for making false statements on the Brady handgun purchase form.
Seven applications denied for making false statements on forms, out of 457,020 applications, amounts to 0.00153% The ATF officials counter that low number by claiming:
that the number of prosecutions was relatively small and that such follow-up enforcement action was not a priority of Justice or U.S. Attorneys. ...[they] emphasized that the primary goal of Brady is being achieved; that is, felons are being prevented from buying handguns from federally licensed gun dealers.
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Policymakers recognize that even a perfect felon identification system may not keep felons from obtaining firearms and that Brady may not directly result in measurable reductions of gun-related crimes. For example, Brady does not apply to transactions between non licensed individuals. Tens of millions of handguns are already in private hands. Thus, the apparently sizable numbers of handgun transactions that take place between private individuals, such as at gun shows and even "on the street," are not subject to Brady's requirements.
In fact, the purpose of Brady is to prevent convicted felons and other ineligible persons from purchasing firearms from licensed dealers. ...
About half of the 19,740 applications that were denied were by felons attempting to buy guns directly from FFL dealers. About 9,870 felons out of 475,020 applications, or 2.15%. How many felons made it through the checks is unknown, nor is the number who obtain guns on the street. In a study of prison inmates incarcerated for use of guns to commit felonies only 1.7% said that they got the guns through straw purchasers, and 73% said they did not purchase through a gun dealer.
During the period when the 1994 assault weapon ban was in force, the Brady Act was impotent in keeping guns out of the hands of 14 of the shooters. From the gun control act of 1968 to the 1994 assault weapons ban there were about 16 mass shootings. During the 10 years of the ban there were 16 mass shootings. Since the sunset of the assult weapons ban there have been 17 mass shootings. The Brady Act and the Assault weapons ban had NO affect on the numbers of mass shootings, and had the gun controls currently proposed been voted in by the Senate, approved by the House and signed by the President, they would have had no better effect, but increased the harassment to law-abiding citizens substantially.
