State Progress in Record Reporting for Firearm-Related Background Checks: Fugitives from Justice

• NCJ Number: 250533
• Author(s): Dennis DeBacco; Richard Schauffler
• Date Published: February 2017
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2009-NS-BX-K050
• Agencies: BJS-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Legislation/Policy Analysis; Instructional Material

Annotation

This resource is the latest in a series of Bureau of Justice Statistics grant-funded reports on firearm-related background checks, and provides an overview of "fugitive from justice" persons prohibited from purchasing and possessing a firearm and highlights the significance of making warrant information available to databases searched during a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check.

Abstract

The report highlights the significance of making warrant information available to databases searched during a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) check. It describes the Congressional requirements established under the Brady Act for entering warrants into databases used by NICS, the challenges of entering warrant records into state and national databases, and improvements states have made making warrant records more readily available to the NICS. It provides an overview of "fugitive from justice" persons, defined as any person who has fled from any State to avoid prosecution for a felony or a misdemeanor, any person who leaves the State to avoid giving testimony in any criminal proceeding, or any person who knows that misdemeanor or felony charges are pending against such person and who leaves the state of prosecution, prohibited from purchasing and possessing a firearm.