Marble wrote:Hmac wrote:
Obviously. However in some states (21 states) a NICS check isn't required if the purchaser has a valid state handgun permit/permit to acquire/permit to carry. Minnesota isn't one of those states. I wonder why.
I wonder what it would take to change that. The ATF website does not have much information on what a state needs to do to qualify for the NICS exemption.
As I understand it, a NICS check has to check 3 different Federal databases:
--The National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which includes records regarding wanted persons (fugitives) and persons subject to protective/restraining orders;
--The Interstate Identification Index, which contains state criminal history records; and
--The NICS Index, which contains records of other persons prohibited under federal law from receiving or possessing firearms
I don't know if there are other requirements for a state to be NICS-exempt, but apparently there's some component of Minnesota's permit law and background check that ATF doesn't find acceptable. So, I wonder the same thing. It would seem prudent for Minnesota to require a Federal background check in addition to a state check before issuing a PTC or PTP.
I have to go through a NICS check every time I buy a firearm in addition to providing my PTC if the firearm is a pistol or MSR, but the law apparently only requires that you be searched in the database once every 5 years. Not a big deal I guess, since I've found NICS to be pretty transparent at the point-of-purchase. I've had delays on a couple of occasions in the past, but none since I finally decided to start putting my social security number on the 4473.