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seamusTX wrote:NICS is the National Instant-Check System. It is a list of people who are disqualified from purchasing firearms because they are felons, mentally ill, etc.

Everyone who purchases a firearm from a federally licensed dealer (that is, all gun stores) must pass NICS unless the buyer has a CHL that meets federal requirements.

The federal requirements include passing an FBI background check.

It would be possible for the state to issue licenses before the background check is completed, then revoke the CHL if the applicant fails the background check. If the state did that, felons and other unqualified people would get CHLs, the media would find out, and the publicity would be damaging. That happened in Florida.

- Jim

Charles L. Cotton wrote:Since no one took the bait and answered my question about DPS issuing CHL's without completing a full background check, I'll go ahead and give the reasons why we don't/shouldn't want that done. If a Texas CHL is issued before a complete background check, then most states will cancel their reciprocity agreements with Texas. Plus, we will lose our NICS exemption.

Computer checks cannot be done for delinquent state taxes and other state fees, child support, or Texas guaranteed school loans. That has to be done at the county level. This is why these requirements should be repealed; plus they violate the Texas Constitution since they are money provisions unrelated to crime prevention.

As for writing Senators and Representatives, please look at the thread on DPS delays. Chairman Joe Driver has already had a meeting with DPS and Gov. Perry sent a representative to the meeting. A reporting schedule was established and Chairman Driver will be getting weekly updates. Getting other Representatives and/or Senators involved will not help at this point. There is nothing that can be done without a legislative fix and that isn't happening until 2009.

Here is something to consider. If this is handled poorly, the legislative change might be to extend the statutory time limit to 90 to 120 days, not fix the delay problems and fix the typo that gives DPS up to 90 days on an initial application instead of 60 days. I say this because DPS is currently trying to work under the watchful eye of Chairman Driver and if they get even more pressure, the response may be "the statutory time limit is too short and it should be increased." Don't think for a second this is not a distinct possibility. That's why my proposed changes greatly decrease DPS workload, thus removing any justification for extending the processing time.

BTW, Texas cannot access the NICS database, unless it agrees to become the POC (Point of Contact) for all firearm sales in Texas and DPS isn't about to agree to that. I have something going on that as well, with the help of NRA's Office of General Counsel. (It's nice to be on the NRA Legal Affairs Committee! ) This will be part of the entire legislative package.

I am as frustrated about the DPS delays as everyone else and if you'll look at some of my posts prior to the DPS meeting, you'll see I've been openly critical of DPS processing. Let's not let this frustration result in a "fix" that legalizes what DPS is going now; i.e. taking over 100 days to process applications.

Chas.