By Donald A. Manson

BJS State Program Manager

Darrell K. Gilliard

BJS Statistician

During 1997 about 2,574,000 background checks of potential handgun

buyers prevented an estimated 69,000

purchases. The inquiries revealed

purchasers ineligibility to buy a

handgun under State or Federal 

laws, particularly the Brady Handgun

Violence Prevention Act (Pub. L. No.

103-159, 107 Stat. 1536 (1993)), which

became effective on February 28,

1994. Sixty-two percent of those

rejected had been convicted of a felony

or were under felony indictment.

From March 1, 1994, through the end

of 1997, handgun sellers submitted an

estimated 10.4 million inquiries about

potential handgun buyers of whom

about 242,000 were rejected. These

estimates include about 62,000 rejections of handgun purchase applications

in the last 10 months of 1994, 41,000

for all of 1995, and 70,000 for all of

1996.

The Firearm Inquiry Statistics (FIST)

program administered by the Bureau 

of Justice Statistics (BJS) collected the

data. FIST was initiated in 1994 to

describe presale background checks 

of applicants to buy a handgun from 

a Federal firearm licensee. Chief law

enforcement officers made the checks

in accordance with the Brady Act or

comparable State legislation.

 During 1997 about 69,000 out of an

estimated 2,574,000 applications for

the purchase of a handgun were

rejected due to presale background

checks of the potential purchasers. 

 About 62% of the rejections were for

a prior felony conviction or a current

felony indictment. Domestic violence

misdemeanor convictions accounted

for over 9% of rejections; domestic

violence restraining orders, 2%.

 In the 46 months from the inception

of the Brady Handgun Violence

Prevention Act to yearend 1997, 

an estimated 10,356,000 applications

for handgun purchases resulted in

242,000 rejections through background checks.

 At the beginning of the Brady Act,

March 1, 1994, 32 States and Puerto

Rico were required to follow the

procedures set forth in the act 

(Brady States). Currently there 

are 23 Brady States.

 After November 1998 

presale background checks will

be required for sales of all firearms, 

not just handguns 

background checks will be made

to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal

Background Check System (NICS),

either directly or through the State

Point of Contact (POC), unless the

State operates under an approved

firearm permit system.

 During 1997 the FBI received

3,930,000 inquiries to its National

Crime Information Center about

persons applying to carry or purchase

a firearm.

*Original Brady States are the 32 States required 

to follow presale review procedures set out in the

Brady Act when it became effective on February

28, 1994. At the end of 1997, 23 of the 32 were

still Brady States. (See table 2.)

Note: All estimated counts are

rounded. Percentages were calculated

from unrounded data. Detail may not

add to total because of rounding.

Other 26,000 12,000 12,000

Felony indictment/conviction 43,000 30,000 12,000

Reasons for rejection

Rejection rate 2.7% 3.5% 3.0%

Rejected 69,000 42,000 24,000

Inquiries/applications 2,574,000 1,197,000 803,000

Inquiries and rejections 

Brady States

during 1997

Original

Brady States*

All 

States

Presale checks for handguns, 1/1/97-12/31/97

 Presale handgun checks: Estimates of inquiries and rejections, 1997

 Highlights

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Revised 7/9/98 th

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Bulletin

A National Estimate

Presale Handgun Checks, 1997

June 1998, NCJ 171130
The estimates of applications and

rejections for handgun purchases

include States operating under the

Brady Act (Brady States) and States

with comparable statutes preventing

handgun sales to prohibited persons

(Brady-alternative States). The original

32 Brady States started following the

Brady Act review procedures on February 28, 1994. There were 18 original

Brady-alternative States. At the end of

1996, because of changed statutes,

there were fewer Brady States (23) and

more Brady-alternative States (27) than

originally; there was no change to this

status in 1997.

Rates of rejection of potential handgun

purchases in 1997 can be compared

for these sets of States the original

or current grouping of Brady and Bradyalternative States.

In 1997 the original Brady States

processed 1,197,000 applications and

rejected about 42,000, a rejection rate

of 3.5%. The original Brady-alternative

States processed 1,378,000 applications and rejected 27,000 1.9%,

which differed significantly from the rate

for the original Brady States. In 1996

the original Brady States processed an

estimated 1,213,000 applications and

rejected about 44,000, a 3.6% rejection

rate (Presale Handgun Checks, 1996,

BJS Bulletin, NCJ 165704, September

1997).

The original Brady-alternative States

processed 1,380,000 applications and

rejected 26,000 1.9%.

The current Brady States in 1997

processed 803,000 applications, of

which they rejected 24,000, a rejection

rate of 3.0%. The current Bradyalternative States processed 1,771,000

and rejected 45,000 2.5%, a rate

lower than the rejection rate of current

Brady States. For 1996, the current

Brady States processed 816,000 applications and rejected 25,000, a 3.1%

rate, and the current Brady-alternative

States processed 1,778,000 applications and rejected 45,000 2.5%.

For all States in both 1996 and 1997,

the most prevalent reason for rejection

was that the applicant either was 

under felony indictment or had a felony

conviction (67.8% in 1996 and 61.7% 

in 1997).

In 1997 a misdemeanor conviction 

for domestic violence (9.1%) or being 

a violator of a State law prohibition

(6.1%) were the next most prevalent

reasons for rejection of a handgun

purchase, followed by being a fugitive

from justice (5.9%). In 1996 rejection

for being a fugitive was 6%, and State

law prohibition was 5.5%. Misdemeanor conviction for domestic

violence was not added as a prohibited

category until October 1996.

Almost all States are able to check

computer databases to determine past

criminal convictions (table 2). Some

States are able to refer to other

databases to check additional characteristics that may make a person ineligible to purchase a handgun fugitive

status, court restraining orders, and

mental illness. 

In the 44 States that reported rejections

for fugitive status, 6.7% of handgun

application rejections were for such a

status. In the 36 States checking for a

disqualifying domestic-violence related

restraining order, potential purchasers

accounted for 5.5% of application

rejections. Fifteen States reported

rejections for applicants with mental

illness; in these States mental illness

accounted for 1.9% of the handgun

application rejections. In States that

reported rejections based on misdemeanor convictions for domestic

violence, 10.9% of handgun application

rejections were due to a prior misdemeanor conviction.

Statewide reporting of handgun

applications and rejections

State governments, the Federal Bureau

of Investigation (FBI), and the Bureau

of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

(BATF) have cooperated to identify

about 5,400 law enforcement agencies

and their heads as chief law enforcement officers (CLEOs) nationwide.

Data for 1997 were collected from 268

CLEOs out of a sample of 600. 311

CLEOs provided data in 1996. The

decline is due in part to the U.S.

Supreme Court decision in June 1996

that CLEOs were no longer required to

make a mandatory background check

(see Background for further details).

2 Presale Handgun Checks, 1997

Note: Percentages cannot be added 

because a different set of States is included 

in each category of reasons.

Restraining orders 6

Misdemeanor convictions 11

Domestic violence

Mental illness 2

Fugitive 7%

Percent of 

rejections in States

that search records

for specific

nonfelony reasons 

Nonfelony 

reasons

*Includes illegal aliens, juveniles, persons discharged from the armed

services dishonorably, persons who have renounced their U.S. citizenship,

and other unspecified persons. At the end of 1997, 23 of the 32 original

Brady States were still under the Brady Act. 

Other* 11.7 5.4 10.7

Local law prohibition 0.9 0.1 0.1

Drug addiction 1.6 2.2 5.2

Mental illness or disability 0.9 0.1 0.2

State law prohibition 6.1 3.0 5.7

Restraining order 2.1 2.2 0.4

Misdemeanor convictions 9.1 9.6 14.6

Domestic violence

Fugitive 5.9 7.5 12.8

61.7 69.9 50.3

Felony (indictment/ 

 conviction/no disposition)

 Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Brady States

during 1997

Original 

Brady States

All 

Reason for rejection States

Table 1. Reasons for rejection of handgun purchase 

applications, national estimates, 1997
Among the responding CLEOs, 21

served as the only CLEO for the State

and provided statewide totals (table 3).

These States, which represented 

50% of U.S. resident population and 

over half of the total applications

for handgun purchases during 1997,

processed 1,440,963 applications and

rejected 35,382  a rejection rate of

2.5%. Sixty percent of rejections were

for a past felony conviction or felony

indictment.

Background

Thirty-two States and Puerto Rico were

required to follow the review proceRevised 7/9/98 th

 Presale Handgun Checks, 1997 3

Note: Not all States that reported having a database reported reasons for rejections.

a

In the Brady States contacts are the chief law enforcement officers; in Brady-alternative 

States these contacts are identified according to criteria of each State.

b

Background checks are required for handguns and long guns.

Total 32 23 5,390 49 44 36 15 34

Wyoming   40  

Wisconsin 1     

West Virginia   1    

Washingtonb  291     

Virginiab 1     

Vermont   22    

Utah  1    

Texas   991    

Tennessee  96    

South Dakota   66   

South Carolina   1    

Rhode Islandb   39     

Pennsylvania   67  

Oregon 1    

Oklahoma   440 

Ohio   1    

North Dakota   53   

North Carolina  100    

New York 58     

New Mexico   113  

New Jerseyb 505    

New Hampshire  1    

Nevada   1   

Nebraska 95  

Montana   56  

Missouri 115    

Mississippi   263

Minnesota  568    

Michigan 595     

Massachusetts 270     

Maryland 1    

Maine   128   

Louisiana   64  

Kentucky   5   

Kansas   123  

Iowa 100    

Indiana 1 

Illinoisb 1     

Idaho  1    

Hawaiib 4   

Georgia  1    

Floridab 1     

Delawareb 1     

Connecticutb 1    

Colorado  1    

Californiab 1     

Arkansas   1    

Arizona   1  

Alaska   35    

Alabama   67   

Domestic

violence

misdemeanorMental

health

Restraining

orders

Wanted

fugitives

Criminal

histories

Current

12/31/97

Original

State 3/1/94 a

State databases being accessed Number

of law 

enforcement

agencies

responsible 

for record 

checks

Brady status

Table 2. Background checks for handgun purchases, by State, 1997

*Includes illegal aliens, juveniles, persons

discharged from the armed services dishonorably, persons who have renounced their U.S.

citizenship, and other unspecified reasons.

Other* 11

Drug addiction 1

Mental illness or disability 1

State law prohibition 5

Fugitive 6

Restraining order 2

Misdemeanor conviction 10

Domestic violence

64%

Felony (indictment/ 

conviction/no disposition)

Reason for rejection

by 21 statewide CLEOs

Note: Each State had 1 CLEO that reported

complete statewide data for applications 

and rejections for 1997. Kentucky reported 

79,574 applications and 1,973 rejections, 

but excluded data from 4 counties.

*Counts include handguns and long guns.

Wisconsin 31,030 444 1.4

West Virginia 20,577 295 1.4

Virginia* 180,527 2,364 1.3

Utah 32,389 792 2.4

South Carolina 50,789 2,650 5.2

Oregon 48,597 1,370 2.8

Ohio 55,074 473 0.9%

New Jersey 25,386 214 0.8

New Hampshire 12,557 232 1.8

Nevada 24,765 686 2.8

Maryland 31,599 275 0.9

Indiana 110,999 1,085 1.0

Illinois* 171,865 1,943 1.1

Idaho 22,761 790 3.5%

Georgia 83,673 7,136 8.5

Florida 198,922 7,348 3.7

Delaware* 11,369 491 4.3

Colorado 46,853 2,476 5.3

California 204,409 1,839 0.9

Arkansas 14,556 202 1.4

Arizona 62,266 2,277 3.7%

 Total 1,440,963 35,382 2.5%

State Received Rejected rate

RejectionNumber of 

applications

Table 3. Number of applications 

to buy handguns received or 

rejected in 21 States reporting

complete data, 1997
dures set forth in the Brady Act when 

it became effective (identified in this

Bulletin as original Brady States).

By the end of 1996 and through 1997,

the number of States following the

Brady Act review procedures rather

than alternative State statutes had

dropped to 23 (identified as current

Brady States; see table 2 for each

State's Brady status.)

Pursuant to the Federal Gun Control

Act of 1968, as codified at 18 U.S.C. 

 922, the sale of firearms is prohibited

if the prospective purchaser 

 is a juvenile

 is a fugitive from justice

 is under indictment for, or has been

convicted of, a crime punishable by 

imprisonment for more than 1 year

 is an unlawful user of a controlled 

substance

 has been adjudicated as a mental

defective or committed to a mental

institution

 is an alien unlawfully in the United

States

 was discharged from the armed

forces under dishonorable conditions

 has renounced U.S. citizenship

 is subject to a court order restraining

him or her from harassing, stalking, or

threatening an intimate partner or child

or 

 is a person convicted of domestic

violence.

The Brady Act was enacted in November 1993 and became effective in

February 1994. The interim provisions

of the Act require that federally licensed

firearm dealers request a presale

check on all potential handgun

purchasers. The requests are made to

CLEOs in the jurisdictions where the

prospective purchasers reside. 

The Federal firearms licensee must

wait 5 business days before transferring the handgun to the buyer, unless

earlier approval is received from the

CLEO. These interim procedures will

terminate no later than November 30,

1998.

4 Presale Handgun Checks, 1997

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms (BATF) calculated the

number of applications for firearm

purchases from March of 1994 to the

end of 1995. (See Presale Firearm

Checks, BJS Bulletin, NCJ-162787,

February 1997.) The BATF estimates

were calculated using the number of

firearm-coded inquiries to the FBI's

National Crime Information Center

(NCIC). The percentage of denials

used for these estimates was based

on the experiences of jurisdictions

that had implemented presale

firearms check procedures prior to

the Brady Act. 

After the first 10 months of implementation of the Brady Act, the number 

of NCIC firearm-coded inquiries 

per 100,000 adult U.S. residents

remained relatively consistent:

On average during 1997 the FBI

receives every month nearly 328,000

inquiries to the NCIC to qualify a

person to purchase or carry a firearm.

(See figure 1, page 5.) 

The FIST data, also stable across the

4-year period, describe only applications for handgun purchases, a

fraction of the larger number of potential firearm purchases. (The interim

provisions of the Brady Act also cover

only applications for a handgun

purchase.)

Data collection for FIST began in

January 1996. The estimated number

of inquiries for handgun purchases

during the year was 67% of the total

number of firearm inquiries to the

NCIC (3,842,000). To estimate the

number of inquiries for handgun

purchase applications before 1996,

the BATF estimates were multiplied

by 67%. 

Note: All estimated counts are rounded. Percentages were calculated 

from unrounded data. Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

a

Data for 1994 and 1995 from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 

Firearms are based on inquiries to the FBI's National Crime Information Center.

b

Original Brady States are the 32 States required to follow presale review 

procedures set out in the Brady Act when it became effective on February 28, 1994.

Other 26,000 12,000 17,000 8,000

Felony indictment/conviction 65,000 30,000 43,000 20,000

Reasons for rejection

Rejection rate 2.5% 2.5% 1.5% 1.5%

Rejected 92,000 42,000 60,000 28,000

Inquiries/applications 3,679,000 1,696,000 4,009,000 1,884,000

Inquiries and rejections 

Original

Brady 

Statesb

All 

States

Original

Brady 

Statesb

All 

States

3/1/94 to 12/31/94 1/1/95 to 12/31/95

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms estimates

 may include handguns, long guns, and carry

permitsa

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms estimates of inquiries and 

rejections, March 1, 1994, to December 31, 1995

*January and February numbers were imputed, using the average of those months,

1995-97.

1997 1,984

1996 1,957

1995 2,083

1994* 2,262

Rejection rate 2.5% 1.5% 2.7% 2.7%

Number of rejections 62,000 41,000 70,000 69,000

Number of handgun inquiries 2,483,000 2,706,000 2,593,000 2,574,000

1/1/97 -

12/31/97

1/1/96 -

12/31/96

1/1/95 -

12/31/95

3/1/94 -

Estimate 12/31/94

Estimated number of handgun inquiries (applications to purchase)

and rejections, from March 1, 1994, to December 31, 1997
The interim provision also permits

States to follow a variety of alternative

State procedures. (See Survey of

State Procedures Related to Firearm

Sales, 1996, BJS report, NCJ-163918,

September 1997.) To qualify under

these alternatives, State law must

require that before any licensee

completes the transfer of a handgun 

to a nonlicensee, a government official

must verify that possession of a

handgun by the transferee would not be

a violation of law. Examples of Bradyalternative States include California

(“point-of-sale check”), Virginia (“instant

check”), and Missouri (permit).

After November 1998 a Federal

firearms licensee will be required to

obtain background checks on potential

purchasers of all firearms. These

inquiries will be made through the

National Instant Criminal Background

Check System (NICS) that the FBI will

operate and maintain. 

Under the permanent NICS configuration, firearm dealers can make NICS

presale firearm inquiries either through

the State, which will serve as a Point of

Contact (POC) to the FBI, or directly to

the FBI. The Brady Act also enables

States to meet the requirements of the

permanent system through an ATFapproved permit system. Felony and

other criminal record data will be

accessed by means of the Interstate

Identification Index. In addition, the FBI

NICS Index will provide States with

access to Federal data on nonfelony

prohibiting categories, such as illegal

aliens. States serving as POCs will

also have access to State data on

nonfelony prohibiting categories.

On June 27, 1997, the U.S. Supreme

Court overturned the provision requiring mandatory background checks by

CLEOs in Brady States (see Printz

[95-1478] and Mack [95-1503] v. United

States). Since then, CLEOs in the

Brady States continuing to do

background checks do so on a voluntary basis. In Brady-alternative States

(including States operating under a

permit system) checks are made in

accordance with State law. The impact

of this decision on making a national

estimate of presale handgun checks is

addressed in Methodology.

The National Criminal History

Improvement Program (NCHIP)

To ensure immediate availability of

complete and accurate State records,

the Brady Act established a grant

program authorized at $200 million. 

An additional authorization of $20

million was made available through the

National Child Protection Act of 1993

(Pub. L. No. 103-209, 107 Stat. 2490

(1993)), and $6 million were authorized

under the Violence Against Women Act

(42 USC 13701 et seq.). The NCHIP

program under which these funds are

awarded is designed to assist States to

develop or improve existing criminal

history records systems and to establish an interface with the NICS. 

Under NCHIP over $162 million was

given in direct awards to the States

during fiscal years 1995, 1996, and

1997. The appropriation for 1998 is

$47.75 million. NCHIP funds have

supported direct technical assistance to

States, evaluation, and research

related to improving criminal and other

nonfelony records within the States.

The FIST program was established

under NCHIP. Information requested

from CLEOs does not include data

traceable to an applicant and none of

the FIST information provided from

agencies to BJS contains or reveals the

identity of individual applicants. The

computer program that was subsequently developed and used by some

agencies for both operational purposes

and to collect FIST data transmits only

the appropriately aggregated or categorized responses. Moreover, the

computer program assists agencies to

purge records after the delay times

specified by law.

Methodology

The following presents the approach

used to derive the 1997 estimates from

a sample of chief law enforcement

officers charged with determining eligibility to purchase a handgun. The data

were stratified by size of the population

served. Information collected included

the following:

 handgun applications made to the 

CLEO; 

 handgun applications rejected by the

CLEO; and 

 the reasons for rejection. 

The sample for the survey was

selected from a population of 5,400

CLEOs. These CLEOs ranged from

State agencies which served an entire

State population (category X); local

CLEOs which served a population

greater than 100,000 (category C);

local CLEOs which served a population

between 10,000 and 100,000 (category

B); and local CLEOs which served a

population of less than 10,000

(category A). Population size was

based on 1990 Census information.

 Presale Handgun Checks, 1997 5

Number of inquiries to the FBI's National Crime Information Center

for potential firearm purchases or carry permits

Mar.

'94

Dec.

'94

Jun.

'94

Jun.

'95

Dec.

'95

Dec.

'96

Dec.

'97

Jun.

'96

Jun.

'97

500,000

375,000

0

250,000

125,000

Figure 1
The population categories were chosen

to be consistent with those commonly

used by the FBI when conducting

similar studies. A total of 600 CLEOs

were randomly selected for inclusion 

in the study.

Since the start of this study two States

have implemented operation of statewide CLEOs, and one State has begun

reporting data for local jurisdictions.

These changes have reduced the total

number of CLEOs selected to 579.

The sample universe includes all 25

statewide CLEOs (category X), all 118

CLEOs who service populations in

excess of 100,000 persons (category

C), 189 CLEOs from category B, and

247 from category A. For each State

4% or a minimum of five CLEOs were

selected in their respective A and B

categories.

Overall, 268 CLEOs provided data for a

response rate of 46%. Respondents

included 23 statewide CLEOs, 41 local

CLEOs in category C, 95 local CLEOs

in category B, and 109 local CLEOs in

category A. The 268 agencies that

submitted data serviced 158,815,381

people or 64% of the 248,102,973

people who were identified in the 1990

Census.

Based on data provided by these

CLEOs, national estimates were developed using weighting factors derived

from the original stratification. When 

a CLEO did not provide data for all

months, a simple linear extrapolation 

or interpolation was used to generate 

a 12-month total.

Information for one State required

further analysis. New Jersey provided

data on the number of applications and

the number of rejections for the whole

State, but did not provide reasons for

rejections. Local CLEOs that had been

sampled in New Jersey provided data

on the reasons for rejection.

For purposes of applications, rejections

and rejection rates, information from

the statewide CLEO was used. The

descriptive information about reasons

for rejections used the data from both

the local and State CLEOs.

Maine is one of several States that use

both local CLEOs and the State police

in areas not serviced by a local CLEO.

In the other States, data from the State

police were classified as category A

data because of the rural area that is

normally being served. However,

Maine, because of the large portion of

the State that the State police service

(40%) and the wide range of population

classifications they serve, State police

data were classified as category X

data.

Three agencies with a rejection rate

over four standard deviations above the

average standard rejection rate were

classified as outliers and their data

were not used for projection of

estimates. In addition, one agency was

classified as an outlier because its final

rejection rate could not be determined

with sufficient accuracy. The data

provided by the outliers were added to

the total estimated counts to get the

final national totals.

To compensate for the June 1997

Supreme Court decision, the CLEOs

from Brady States that had been

selected for this study were surveyed to

determine if they stopped performing

background checks. For each size

category, a percentage of the population which had stopped participating

was computed. These percentages

were then applied to the estimated

number of rejections for that size

category and subtracted from the total

estimated number of rejections.

The accuracy of the estimates

presented in this report depends on two

types of errors: nonsampling and

sampling. In this study, nonsampling

error may occur from the following: 

nonresponse; differences in the ways

CLEOs process, code, store and

retrieve their information; differences in

interpretation of the survey questions;

and even activities which delay personnel from doing paperwork.

Also, the process of a researcher

receiving data and storing it in the

computer for analysis can introduce

nonsampling error. In any sample

survey, the full extent of nonsampling

error is never fully known. However,

steps were taken to minimize the

potential for error. Extensive telephone

follow-ups were made to encourage

responses, answer questions about

misunderstood requests, and generally

help CLEOs in assembling the information in a form useable by FIST. Extensive verification of the data ensured the

accuracy of the numbers.

Because of the sampling design, State

comparisons cannot be made. The

estimates are only for the 50 States

and do not include U.S. territories or

the District of Columbia. Sales of all

firearms are prohibited in the District of

Columbia except to law enforcement

officers.

Data collection procedures

The Regional Justice Information

Service (REJIS), through a cooperative

agreement with BJS under the Firearm

Inquiry Statistics program (FIST),

collected the data. 

The CLEOs supplied data on either

paper or diskette. Several different

forms were provided to meet the

varying office procedures of the

CLEOs. In addition REJIS wrote and

provided special software that was

distributed free of charge to requesting

CLEOs. This software was designed to

simplify the record tabulating functions

of the CLEO. It also helped to reduce

the burden of keeping the statistical

data since one of the capabilities of the

software was to automatically collect

the data needed for the study. In all

cases the data that the CLEO sent to

REJIS contained only statistical information and would not allow the identification of an individual.

6 Presale Handgun Checks, 1997
Determining populations

For local CLEOs, a State may choose

to have county officials (usually the

sheriff) as the CLEO or municipal

officials (police departments) or a

combination of the two. To evaluate

properly the application and rejection

rates for purchasing handguns within a

given area, the appropriate CLEO

population was needed and was determined as follows:

 The stratification classification of the

county was based on the size of the

largest city within the county.

 If cities within a participating county

CLEO were acting as their own CLEOs,

their populations were subtracted from

the county population.

 If a municipal CLEO was discovered

to be providing services for other

selected municipalities, then populations for those municipalities were

added to the populations of the city

having the CLEO.

 Those CLEOs selected to participate

in the study but found to be relying on

other jurisdictions to conduct

background checks were replaced by

those other jurisdictions (for example, a

town being replaced by a county). 

 Presale Handgun Checks, 1997 7

The Bureau of Justice Statistics

is the statistical agency of the 

U.S. Department of Justice. 

Jan M. Chaiken, Ph.D., is Director.

BJS Bulletins present the first release of

findings from permanent data collection

programs such as the Firearm Inquiries

Statistics program. State and local

officials have cooperated in reporting 

the data presented.

Don Manson, BJS Program Manager,

and Darrell K. Gilliard, BJS Statistician,

wrote this Bulletin under the supervision

of Carol Kaplan, Chief, Criminal History

Improvement Programs, BJS. Gene

Lauver, manager of the Firearm Inquiry

Statistics program, Regional Justice Information Service (REJIS of St.Louis, MO),

collected and analyzed the FIST data

presented. Terry Tomazic, Ph.D., professor of research methodology at St. Louis

University, provided statistical consultation. Priscilla Middleton and Tom Hester

produced and edited the report. Marilyn

Marbrook, assisted by Yvonne Boston

and Jayne Robinson, administered final

report production.

Further information on the FIST program

may be obtained from:

Carol G. Kaplan, Chief

Criminal History Improvement Programs

U.S. Department of Justice

Bureau of Justice Statistics

810 Seventh Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20531

Gene Lauver, Project Manager

Regional Justice Information Service

4255 West Pine Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63108. 

June 1998, NCJ-171130

This report and others from the Bureau

of Justice Statistics are available

through the Internet 

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/