Details on firearm background checks in Ohio and nationally

Background checks have been required for the purchase of firearms from federally licensed dealers since 1998 under the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act. Private sales are not subject to background checks unless the sale involves residents of different states. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia, but not Ohio, do require background checks for private sales of handguns. Stricter rules apply to fully automatic weapons, whether sold privately or by dealers.

The FBI runs the computerized federal background check system which is called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System – known by the acronym NICS. It operates from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day but Christmas and by law must give approve or deny the sale within three business days of the request. Since 1998 there have been 174.6 million background checks by licensed dealers and 1.04 million denials by NICS. That figure does not include about a million sales denied through state background checks or those denied by the dealers themselves based on the answers the prospective buyers give on the background check form.