U.S.

FBI Gun Sales Computer Back Up

May 14, 2000 / 10:50 AM EDT / AP

The FBI says a computer database used in gun purchases is up and running again.

The FBI's Interstate Identification Index, a database containing criminal histories of 36 million people, stopped working late Thursday afternoon, the bureau said Friday.

This computer failure at the FBI Criminal Information Center in Morgantown, W.Va., halted gun sales because it prevented completion of background checks that the Brady law requires for buyers.

Gun dealers had hoped for a quick fix because Saturday is their busiest day. However, the system remain down throughout the day.

Without background check approvals, gun dealers have been forced to tell their customers to wait for their guns until the system came back up and the checks can be completed.

The computer failure made it impossible for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, to check the criminal histories for past felony convictions that bar people from buying guns. Also brought down was the FBI's automated fingerprint system.

When the system is working, 72 percent of gun purchases are approved within 30 seconds, the Justice Department says. And 95 percent of buyers get an approval or a disapproval within two hours of their purchase application.