From: "Lee Ligon" <[l--l] at [basinlink.com]>
Date: Tue, 30 Jan 1996 21:11:32 +0000

Read item (9) carefully, it says it all.

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 Gun Control: Implementation of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention
Act (Chapter Report, 01/19/96, GAO/GGD-96-22).

GAO reviewed the implementation of the Brady Handgun Violence
Prevention Act, focusing on the: (1) extent to which the waiting
period and background checks required for handgun purchases have
prevented ineligible persons from legally purchasing handguns; (2)
extent to which denials have resulted in follow-up enforcement actions
against those submitting false purchase information; and (3) effects
of various legal challenges to the Brady Act.

GAO found that: (1) of the law enforcement agencies surveyed, handguns
were denied to about 4.3 percent of applicants; (2) application
denials varied by jurisdiction because law enforcement officials did
not use standardized criteria for their decisions; (3) most denials
resulted from misdemeanor warrants or administrative reasons, such as
gun dealers sending applications to the wrong law enforcement agency;
(4) in four jurisdictions, 4.9 percent of denials resulted from
convictions or indictments for violent crimes, such as aggravated
assault, murder, rape, or robbery; (5) most law enforcement officers
relied solely on criminal history records in conducting their
background checks because no other information sources were available,
but some officers routinely checked for mental history
disqualifications; (6) the number of Brady Act prosecutions was
relatively small due to the low priority of follow-up enforcement
actions at the Department of Justice (DOJ); (7) federal officials
believe that the Brady Act is achieving its primary goal of preventing
felons from legally purchasing handguns; (8) the effects of legal
challenges to the Brady Act will not be known until all appeals are
decided; and (9) DOJ believes that it lacks the authority to take
action against law enforcement officers who do not conduct background
checks.
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