A Justice Department audit of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) released Wednesday reveals that prosecutions of those who lie on the background check affidavit—by falsely claiming no felony convictions, for example—have declined to a new low after falling for more than a decade, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
Between 2008 and 2015, of the 556,496 attempted firearm purchasers denied by FBI background checks, only 254 individuals who made false statements on the background-check affidavits—an act which constitutes a federal felony—were even considered for prosecution, reflecting a prosecution rate of 4/100 of 1 percent.
The U.S. Attorneys’ Office said the recent decline in such prosecutions was the result of an Obama administration policy shift after 2012 and that it does not believe the low prosecution rate warrants a re-examination of that policy shift. If they won’t enforce the laws against the bad guys, why demand new laws that only deny the rights of the good guys?
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