Vermont Learns Police Can’t Conduct NICS Checks…AFTER Passing Bill

By Tom Knighton

Vermont thought background checks were these easy things that anyone could get. The state passed a universal background check bill and figured all was well.

However, the state has learned that the background checks performed by state police are less comprehensive than the NICS checks.

Whoops.

Vermont’s law enforcement agencies would not be able to carry out background checks on private firearms sales, the Department of Public Safety has determined.

As part of a sweeping package of gun control measures that became law this year, legislators moved to expand background checks to private gun purchases, in addition to sales at gun shops, or through other licensed dealers.

Lawmakers also asked the Department of Public Safety to find out whether state and local police, in addition to gun dealers, would be able to run background checks on sales that occur outside the retail sphere.

But in a memo sent to legislators last week, the department found that Vermont’s law enforcement agencies, unlike federally licensed firearm dealers, are not authorized to request the FBI to run checks through its National Instant Background Check System (NICS).

Through the system, the federal government can search through national databases of criminal justice, mental health, and military records, according to …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms