May 25, 2010

NSSF President Steve Sanetti Addresses FBI-NICS

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Earlier this morning, NSSF President Steve Sanetti gave the key note address for the FBI-National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) User Seminar. Today’s seminar follows an NSSF hosted reception last night for NICS attendees and coincides with the release of statistics from the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report showing all forms of violent crime being down in 2009 from 2008 – the same time period that saw sales of firearms to law-abiding Americans reach record levels. This is noteworthy as even with this unprecedented number of Americans choosing to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms, FBI-NICS maintained an “immediate determination rate” – the percentage of transactions that receive a “proceed with or deny the purchase” response without delay – of greater than 91 percent. 

In his remarks, Sanetti noted the firearms industry’s long-standing support for an instant criminal background check – support that predates that of any gun-control organization.  

“For more than 10 years, FBI-NICS has provided firearms retailers with outstanding customer service all the while making continual improvements and enhancements to the instant check system,” Sanetti said. “Today, we thank FBI – NICS for minimizing complications and delays, thereby benefiting America’s firearms retailers, law-abiding gun owners and the general public.”

In its more than 10-year existence, NICS has fielded more than 100 million inquiries.   

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