MD Gun Store Clerks Ignoring Background Checks

[mrjarrell]

Looks like the local yokel state police can't keep up with the demand. They're supposed to be done in 7 days, max. Instead they're running out to 60 or 70 days, due to demand. Guess NICS isn't good enough for them. Well, some gun store owners aren't having it. They're releasing the guns to the buyers after a "reasonable" time and not letting the staties set the pace. My guess is that they'll either crack down on the dealers or they'll have to revisit this whole "let the cops do it" system they have.

Frustrated Gun Store Clerks Ignore Mandated Background Checks

 

[IndyDave1776]

Good for them. If they bend over and take it now, later they can expect the police to use this as a vehicle for a de facto prohibition on gun sales by simply not doing their jobs.

 

[Classic]

I don't blame them. I assume the MD check is an addition to the NICS.

 

[EOD Guy]

"We're doing all we can to address the backlog," said Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley.

....Right....Coming from the same state that wouldn't allow a citizen the right to a CCW even with a MS-13 death threat on their head and bullet holes in their car.

I spent 6 years there...glad I moved! Nothing like having your info recorded when buying ammo...the clerk said it was mandatory when buying what he called "high crime ammo".

 

[cobber]

MD has a high number of NSA employees. Can't they just run the checks through Prism? It did such a great job with the Tsarnaevs, after all.

 

[jwh20]

I wonder what recourse MD has against gun stores that follow FEDERAL procedures and the NICS but not the state procedure? The ATF is not likely to be involved here because the FFL holder is following the ATF procedures. I suppose there may be a provision in federal law about state law. Any FFLs here have a comment about their interpretation of this?

It could also be in their rush to implement that the folks in the MD legislature forgot to include a penalty for a gun store who doesn't obey their law.

 

[pudly]

It could also be in their rush to implement that the folks in the MD legislature forgot to include a penalty for a gun store who doesn't obey their law.

Don't you mean any govt agency that doesn't obey their law? It seems that the failure is on their part, not the store's part. From the article:

Maryland law states that gun buyers should not have to wait more than seven days to receive a firearm, while Maryland police are requesting as much as 10 weeks to process the background checks.

As far as I can see, the shops aren't ignoring the law. They are following it.

 

[jgreiner]

Looks like the local yokel state police can't keep up with the demand. They're supposed to be done in 7 days, max. Instead they're running out to 60 or 70 days, due to demand. Guess NICS isn't good enough for them. Well, some gun store owners aren't having it. They're releasing the guns to the buyers after a "reasonable" time and not letting the staties set the pace. My guess is that they'll either crack down on the dealers or they'll have to revisit this whole "let the cops do it" system they have.

Frustrated Gun Store Clerks Ignore Mandated Background Checks

MD has become a gun owners nightmare of a state. I am moving out to the DC region (wife got a job with the Smithsonian), but I refuse to live in MD. Virginia is very gun friendly, however.

 

[jgreiner]

MD has a high number of NSA employees. Can't they just run the checks through Prism? It did such a great job with the Tsarnaevs, after all.

 

[jwh20]

There seems to be a bit more to this story than meets the eye.

It seems the MD law, screwy as it is, is similar to the NICS system where if a go/no-go is not given in the allotted time (3 days if I recall correctly) the dealer can release the firearm to the buyer. That was added to the NICS law to prevent what I'm sure the Obama Administration would LOVE to do, namely just stop issuing "PROCEED" on NICS checks and bring the entire gun industry to a virtual standstill. But if he were to do that he would actually be eliminating the existing background checks.

Here is an article that says a bit more: OMG! MD Gun Sales Without Background Checks! OMG! | The Truth About GunsThe Truth About Guns

The comment is made:

“The law states that the firearms dealer must hold that weapon for seven days,” said Shipley, the state police spokesman. “After that, the law is silent.”

So it doesn't appear that gun sellers are violating any law here. They perform the federal NICS check and get a PROCEED. Then they wait the MD 7 days and if they don't get a response, they proceed since the law in MD doesn't say they cannot.

I'm sure they clowns there in MD will act quickly to close this "loophole"...

 

[jwh20]

MD has a high number of NSA employees. Can't they just run the checks through Prism? It did such a great job with the Tsarnaevs, after all.

They don't have time. The NSA is too busy listening in on all those cell phone calls and internet connections. They've got to be overloaded!! Poor folks!