1-day record for gun checks

By Marilyn Robinson , Special to the Rocky

Published December 24, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

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The Colorado Bureau of Investigation's instant background check, required on all gun purchases from licensed firearms dealers, set a one-day record in November and officials have their sights on hitting a record for the year.

The CBI's InstaCheck program handled 1,306 checks in 12 hours on the day after Thanksgiving, so-called Black Friday for its potential to put retailers in the black for the year.

The previous record was 1,234, set last December. Last year's Black Friday total was 1,184.

Now, with only a few days until year's end, InstaCheck appears on target to meet or top last year's record of 161,366 checks.

The system checks for a gun buyer's criminal record, restraining orders and mental health issues before a sale is approved.

"Black Friday is always a busy day," said Susan Kitchen, who retired Nov. 30 as agent-in-charge of the InstaCheck program. "Christmas is a big time day for gun sales. So is Valentine's Day."

CBI spokesman Lance Clem said he couldn't speculate on the reason gun sales are up but acknowledged that the state's population growth could be a factor.

The number of checks, he noted, doesn't represent the number of firearms sold. "Someone can buy more than one" at the same time, he said.

InstaCheck has been around in Colorado since 1994. The CBI got out of the business on April 1, 1999, after the FBI came online. But then came the killings at Columbine High School - until recently the worst school shooting in U.S. history - and the killing of three children by their father in Castle Rock.

"It was something we would have denied," Kitchen said of the father's gun purchase.

CBI reinstated its InstaCheck program before the year was out.

InstaCheck workers check a number of databases starting with the Department of Motor Vehicles. A number of state and federal databases follow. Even immigration records may be checked.

Kitchen still chuckles about the results in one case. A man who was denied and appealed was told to get fingerprinted at his local law enforcement agency.

Instead, she said, "he made his own prints, bordering the letter with ballpoint pen prints."

The number of denials has dropped from 6.55 percent in 1999 to 3.07 percent last year. In most cases, there's no way to tell what violence the denial rate may have prevented.

The program has 21 full-time employees and four temporary workers.

During the first nine months of the year, it took an average of 20 minutes to reach the program when people called. The time for the check itself averaged 15 minutes.

But more than 80 percent of the inquiries come on the Internet, Kitchen said.

The number of applicants on Black Friday surprised workers.

People had to wait as much as 68 minutes to talk to someone, and the average time to get through the check after that was more than 37 minutes, Clem said.

But that was better than the previous year, when it took up to 102 minutes to speak to a worker and then an hour to get through the check.

While gun checks are up, some business owners say sales, at least at the local level, haven't kept pace.

"The economy is definitely down," said Dave Anver, who operated Dave's Guns in Denver for 22 years before closing the doors in October. "A gun is kind of a luxury item. Outside of law enforcement, a gun is not a necessity."

Anver said he closed because he could no longer compete with national chains.

Friday after Thanksgiving:

1,306 checks on Black Friday, Nov. 23

1,184 checks on Black Friday in 2006

161,366total checks in 2006

Denial rates

* 3.07 percent in 2006

* 6.55 percent in 1999

Average time for each call:

* 20 minutes to reach the program

* 15 minutes for the check

Number of employees:

* 21 full-time and 4 temporary workers

• December 24, 2007

  8 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  cdjorgen writes:

  Thanks Gov. Bill.. no not you, the real Gov. Bill!

  We love "our" CCW permits.

  Curtis Jorgensen
  Castle Rock

• December 24, 2007

  4:51 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  qvic1 writes:

  It's unfortunate that Dave's Guns has gone out of business-he had a great store. There's been a lot of debate about gun ownership/banning, etc. In an investigative report on tv, several prison inmates were interviewed. Each was doing time for crimes involving firearms. When asked if banning guns or making it difficult to obtain guns would make a difference to them in future crimes, they laughed and replied that they could always get firearms. They also stated that a ban would be great for them since it would mean the disarming of law abiding citizens who could no longer protect themselves or their property.
  Disarming or banning guns from private citizens is NOT going to lower the crime rates--the numbers prove it. If an individual wants to commit a crime or bodily injury, they will do so, whether they use a bat, a rock, a tire iron, or a gun. Automobiles kill many more people than firearms, so should we also ban automobiles? No, of course not. There are traffic classes, drivers tests, driving classes, etc. to promote safe driving. The same goes for firearms. There are NRA safety classes, private instructors, group classes, etc. to promote safe firearm handling.
  A firearm may at first be intimidating when the user has no knowledge but then, so are cars to a novice driver. The firearm becomes less intimidating with the more knowledge the user has. Rather than throwing away our 2nd Amendment rights, why don't we address this in a more sensible and logical standpoint.

  Regards from,
  A former 'anti-gun' woman who now has her CCW permit and loves competition shooting. Ladies, give it a try. It's fun and it 'levels the playing field.' Molōn labe!

• December 26, 2007

  7:29 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  RMGO writes:

  Ms. Robinson should do her research a little better.

  The reason Colorado didn't have a state-level check (which is a misnomer, since it's both a state and federal check, and has double the firearms registration implications) is because in 1999 the NRA and CSSA tried to re-instate it, and we -- Rocky Mountain Gun Owners -- killed their bill in the Senate State Affairs Committee.

  You see, we opposed the Brady Registration check when it was in Congress, and oppose it now. It turns a Constitutional Right (you know, the same kind of "right" the newspapers have to print their opinions-masquerading as fact) into a privilege.

  Gov. Bill Owens re-instated that system in the summer of 1999 with an Executive Order (which was almost certainly illegal, and clearly a pandering to gun-haters).

• December 27, 2007

  9:09 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  susan writes:

  The RMGO could improve their research skills, if you ask me. The reason that the Senate Affairs Committee killed Colorado's Insta-Check in 1999 was because they could not see fit to spend Colorado tax dollars on a program that the federal government was doing. I do not recall either the NRA or the CSA speaking in support of the bill.

  Sadly, it only took a few months for tragedy to confirm what the CBI and the FBI had advised: that states have better access to criminal records, mental health records, and restraining orders. Hence, the executive order to reinstate the program until the General Assembly could convene to decide the issue (which they did almost immediately).

  While I do not belong to any of them, there are responsible groups that support second amendment rights. The RMGO, in my opinion, is not among them.

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