Federal law says that anyone who seeks to buy a gun from a licensed firearm dealer has to undergo a background check, either through the federally-run NICS or through a similar state-run database. Most states simply use NICS because it's already there and they don't have to do anything. Some, such as Washington state, opt to use their own.
Unfortunately, a problem arose a couple of weeks ago that only just now got solved. In the meantime, background checks simply weren't happening.
Now, for the first time in more than two weeks, people can lawfully buy their firearms.
The restoration of the online resources necessary for the Washington State Patrol (WSP) to resume the checks comes a few days after KOMO News learned WSP was being threatened with a lawsuit from the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) over the agency’s inability to perform background checks.
The computer system at the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) went down on Nov. 1. On Nov. 17, WSP’s Secure Automated Firearms E-Check (SAFE) system regained connectivity with AOC’s data repository after computer system security concerns caused the suspension of data availability.
I can't help but notice the timing here. The SAF threatened the lawsuit and suddenly it only takes a couple of days to get the problem fixed when it was broken for nearly two weeks already?
Absolutely pathetic.
Washington state used to be pretty good on guns, but then a pile of folks from California relocated there because their original state was an over-taxed hellhole, so they promptly move in and get enough numbers to start voting for the same policies that ruined the Golden State.
Brilliant.
Because of that, though, people not being able to buy guns wasn't really a massive priority for Washington state officials, at least not until a lawsuit was threatened and they knew darn good and well they'd lose it. There was no excuse for any of it.
Under federal law, part of the reason it's stipulated that dealers are to treat no report on a background check as a passed check after three days is to prevent people from just delaying background checks for some reason and thus deny people their rights any longer.
It may have been the result of a data intrusion, but the fact that no one seemed willing to deal with it was a problem.
In a press release threatening the lawsuit, Second Amendment Foundation founder and executive vice president Alan Gottlieb said:
“State law apparently does not allow WSP to work around this sort of problem,” he noted, “which means that needs to change immediately. As the saying goes, ‘A right delayed is a right denied,’ and the state has denied untold numbers of citizens their right to obtain firearms for almost two weeks. This amounts to a mass deprivation of civil rights under color of law.
“The clock is ticking,” Gottlieb said. “When the system is restored, we expect the WSP to work day and night to expedite background checks already on hold. In the meantime, we are consulting with our attorneys to determine the proper course of action.”
Now, that doesn't appear to be necessary and the Washington State Police are covering a lot of ground very quickly to get these background checks completed, but it's a prime example of some of the issues that can stem from lawmakers completely and totally freaking out that someone might get through the background check process.
A right delayed is a right denied, and there were a whole lot of denials.