Maybe the only good thing to come out of the abomination that was the John Cornyn/Chris Murphy Biden era Bipartisan Safer Communities Act gun control bill was a provision that allows federal firearms licensees to use the NICS background check system to ensure that the people they hire can, you know, possess firearms themselves.
In the infinite wisdom of Congress, it had previously been prohibited for FFLs to run background checks on their own (current or prospective) employees. By law, the NICS system was only to be used for gun purchases.
That meant that if a responsible FFL wanted to make sure that he wasn’t hiring a felon or other prohibited person (it’s not a requirement, only best practice), he’d have to pay for private (expensive) background check himself. Even though the FBI’s NICS system was already right there, already up and running.
The Biden DOJ was required under the new law to come up with an implementation plan within 90 days of the bill’s signing. That was 90 days from June 25, 2022. But the assiduously anti-gun Biden bunch had no interest at all in making FFLs’ lives easier or less expensive, so they just ignored the law.
That changed when the current administration took office. The Trump DOJ has gone through the process and the necessary rule-making procedure and now, finally, in 30 days, your local gun dealer will be able to make sure that the guy behind the counter who’s selling you a gun can actually own one himself.
Here’s the NSSF’s announcement of the long-awaited change . . .
NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, announced today that the Firearm Handler Check (FHC) Final Rule will be published tomorrow in the Federal Register, the culmination of a long-sought, NSSF-led effort to improve firearm industry and community safety. The FHC Final Rule will allow all federal firearms licensees (FFLs) to run background check verifications on current and prospective employees through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Previously, NICS was only utilized to run background checks on prospective firearm purchasers. NSSF long advocated for the ability of FFLs to run background checks on their own employees and prospective hires to ensure no prohibited individuals could have access to firearm inventory at licensed premises. The FHC Final Rule has an effective date of 30 days from tomorrow. A public inspection version of the rule can be viewed here and the Final Rule will not vary.
“The publication of the Firearm Handler Check Final Rule is a tremendous victory for the firearm industry and greatly improves the ability of firearm industry members to keep their businesses and their communities safer by ensuring that FFLs do not hire prohibited persons from working on their premises,” stated NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane. “We all want to keep firearms out of the hands of those who should not possess them. That includes current or prospective employees who might be hired at a licensed firearm business but who actually is not allowed to purchase or possess a firearm, unbeknownst to the FFL owner. This new final rule is the culmination of a long-held priority of the firearm industry and will help increase safety in communities across the country. We thank the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for agreeing with us that this is a major industry priority and for publishing the final rule in the Federal Register.”
NSSF fought to have the provision included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) that was signed into law in 2022 and has been pushing to get the Final Rule published since that time. NSSF also secured a provision in the BSCA that allows licensed firearm businesses to check firearm serial numbers against the database of firearms that have been reported as stolen. NSSF will closely monitor and alert our members when important information becomes available.