How the new Ohio NICS-compliant carry license is good for everyone

Ohio has recently joined other states in having our Concealed Handgun License (CHL) certified as “NICS-compliant” by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). While this is nothing new, it is new for Ohio. I would like to explain some of the many ways this can be good for everyone.

The NICS system is often referred to as an “instant background check.” For many, it’s anything but “instant.” Some people may get a “hold” when buying a gun. For an unlucky few, this happens every time they make a firearm purchase. Most people denied the ability to buy a gun have done nothing wrong, but there are errors in the database that prevent lawful gun owners from exercising their civil and Constitutional rights.

Neither the potential gun buyer, nor the gun seller get to see the reason why a person is denied, so finding and fixing errors is difficult and expensive at best. But when a sheriff does a background check for a CHL, (s)he is not asking the government for permission to issue, (s)he is looking at the records. This allows the sheriff to sort through errors with an applicant, and if the person really is legally permitted to buy/possess guns and obtain a CHL, one is issued.

This helps gun dealers because they finally have a way to sell guns to legal buyers who otherwise can’t walk into a store to buy guns. It saves them time, and thus money. It is good business. It may lead to increased firearm sales and extra tax dollars for the government.

By having law enforcement “pre-check” people, it takes a burden off BATFE and frees up their limited resources to process other people. This is great news for anyone living in a state which does not have a NICS-compliant carry license, and people in Ohio who buy guns but don’t have a CHL.

Even gun control fans should be happy because Ohio law is now better aligned with Federal law. In a few years police will know that anyone with a valid CHL is a lawful gun owner.

And last but not least, it has the potential to save many lives and could lead to the stopping of an active killer before they are able to fire a single shot. How?

On June 7, 2015, a 21-year-old while male entered the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (which is a “gun free zone”) in Charleston, South Carolina. He was welcomed and spent about an hour with the bible study group. Then he pulled out a gun and killed nine people, aged 26 to 87. One woman and her 11-year-old granddaughter played dead and were spared.

FBI director James Comey admitted that the killer should have been denied when purchasing his gun, but was not. The NICS system failed to stop the killer. Maybe if the BATFE spent less time rerunning people who have already passed a background check, they would have been able to return a correct answer to the dealer who was given a “proceed” before selling the killer a gun.

The NICS-compliant check is an important step for Ohio, and for the nation. We thank those in the legislature and Attorney General’s office who helped bring this important approval to Ohio.

Jim Irvine is Board President of Buckeye Firearms Association. He is also BFA PAC Chairman and recipient of the NRA-ILA's 2011 "Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award," the CCRKBA's 2012 "Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award," and the SAF's 2015 "Defender of Freedom Award."