What is the purpose of a Brady criminal background check?
A. The purpose of a Brady background check is to find out if a prospective gun buyer is prohibited from purchasing a firearm. When a prospective gun buyer attempts to purchase a gun at a federally licensed dealer, state or federal law enforcement authorities must do a Brady criminal background check. The Brady Law requiring a background check took effect in 1994, after a 7-year battle with the NRA. It initially required purchasers to wait up to five days for a background check to occur before being allowed to purchase a handgun. This provision of the Act expired in 1998 when the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) came online. NICS is managed by the FBI. The system runs database checks on criminal and other disqualifying records. The Brady Law is named in honor of James Brady, who was President Ronald Reagan’s Press Secretary in 1981 when both men were shot in an attempted assassination of President Reagan.
