Friday, March 16, 2018

Obama DOJ Ordered 500,000 Fugitives Deleted From Background Check Database

The Obama administration ordered the removal of over 500,000 fugitives with outstanding arrest warrants from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in late 2016, according to testimony from Acting FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich.

The FBI purged the names from the database after the Justice Department changed its legal interpretation of "Fugitive from justice" to say it pertains only to wanted people who have crossed state lines.

Since its creation in 1998, the NICS system has prevented 1.5 million people from purchasing a firearm, including 180,000 denials to fugitives from justice, according to government statistics.

While the FBI had a broad definition of "Fugitive," meaning anyone with an outstanding arrest warrant, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives definition narrowed the definition to anyone with a warrant who has crossed state lines.

The DOJ Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, urged the Justice Department to address the disagreement in terms "As soon as possible."

"Any one of these potentially dangerous fugitives can currently walk into a licensed gun dealer, pass a criminal background check, and walk out with a gun," Robyn Thomas, executive director of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray on Wednesday.

"The Justice Department is committed to working with law enforcement partners across the country to help ensure that all those who can legally be determined to be prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm be included in federal criminal databases," a Justice Department official told the Washington Post last November.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-15/obama-doj-ordered-500000-fugitives-deleted-background-check-database

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