The Department of Homeland Security did not consistently comply with NICS requirements from July 2019 to June 2021. FBI NICS examiners rely on NICS data to determine whether a person is eligible to purchase a firearm. However, DHS components did not submit the data to DOJ, as the United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations require. In particular, the components did not consistently update missing information on dispositions, that is, information on the nature and outcome of criminal proceedings. The components also did not always respond promptly or sufficiently to FBI NICS inquiries. Specifically, DHS components took more than 3 days to respond or were unresponsive to 126 (59 percent) of 214 NICS inquiries. We attribute these issues to DHS not having a unified policy or plan to ensure the timely updating of dispositions or a mechanism to ensure prompt, sufficient responses to inquiries. If NICS examiners do not receive disposition data to deny or approve a firearm sale within 3 business days, licensed sellers may transfer firearms at their discretion. Therefore, DHS not sending disposition data to NICS and its delayed and insufficient responses to FBI inquiries create a risk of wrongful firearms transfers.Additionally, as the Fix NICS Act of 2018 requires, DHS submitted semiannual certifications to DOJ consistent with NICS, but at least two submitted certifications were inaccurate. This occurred because DHS has no oversight or policy to ensure compliance with NICS reporting requirements. As a result of DHS’ inaccurate certifications, DOJ’s semiannual report to Congress on Fix NICS Act of 2018 compliance was also inaccurate.
Open Recommendations
Recommendation Number | Significant Recommendation | Recommended Questioned Costs | Recommended Funds for Better Use | Additional Details | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
We recommend the Office of the Secretary establish aDHS oversight entity to ensure National Instant Criminal Background CheckSystem compliance in DHS, which should include:a. coordinating with the Attorney General to resolve open dispositions thatno longer have available information and discontinue use ofadministrative closure dispositions; andb. developing a risk-based strategy for components to assess missingcriminal history records and submit missing dispositions. | |||||
2 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
We recommend the DHS Office of the Secretary establisha mechanism to track and ensure timely responses to NICS inquiries anddevelop and implement a process to include immigration status at the time ofinquiry for immigration-related inquiries. | |||||
3 | No | $0 | $0 | ||
We recommend the United States Coast Guard,Assistant Commandant for Human Resources, establish a process for thePersonnel Service Center to notify the Coast Guard Investigative Service of thecompletion of dishonorable discharges and that CGIS personnel enter theminto NICS data. |