PERMISSION TO PACK
$25 used to buy a gun; now it just starts the FBI background check
BY LEWIS WHITTEN

Owning a legitimate business means partnering with a government that's constantly looking for a bigger chunk of the take. Gun shops are typically easy prey for greedy government agencies, so it was no surprise when Nevada gun buyers were hit recently with more fees and red tape.

Up until a couple months ago, gun owners with concealed firearms permits were exempt from a $25 FBI criminal background check. Now the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has made the background check mandatory for all gun purchases.

So in addition to paying more than $200 in fees, having a mug shot taken and being fingerprinted, a concealed firearms permit holder must also incur a $25 FBI criminal background check when buying a gun.

The Nevada Sheriffs and Chiefs Association initially announced they would not challenge the new policy, but later claimed they would push to exempt concealed firearms permit holders from the new policy. Regardless, gun shops are still required to top off every gun sale with the $25 background check and a phone call to Uncle Sam.

The change came about in just 10 days, not enough time for gun buyers to go on a last-minute spending spree. This new policy is even worse for hard-up permit holders whose guns are in hock at the local pawnshop.

They can retrieve three guns for each $25 background check, but a likely scenario would be buying back their guns one at a time. This adds an additional $25 payment on top of the pawnshop's finance charges.

Background checks became mandatory in 1993 under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. The ATF claimed in an October letter to Nevada gun dealers that the new policy is in response to lackadaisical sheriff's departments in Nevada that weren't doing their federally required annual updates on permit holders.

Douglas County Sheriff Ron Pierini, who heads the Nevada Sheriff's and Chief's Association, suggested that there isn't enough manpower to do the updates. Perhaps the real problem, however, was an inability to manage resources.

For instance, the Washoe County Sheriff's Department has no problem checking and updating their list of concealed firearms permit holders every week. A few bad apples gave the ATF a convenient excuse for collecting additional fees.

This new regulation is likely to discourage responsible gun owners from signing onto the concealed firearms permit program. It could also put more gun shops out of business.

Ironically, years ago when people left their doors unlocked and owning a gun was almost mandatory, you could buy a Colt Peacemaker for just $25 from the Sears Roebuck catalog. Now we're paying $25 just to get the paperwork started. LW