Philadelphia Joins Suit Against DoD for Failure to Update Data in National Background Check System
PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia today joined New York City and San Francisco in suing the Department of Defense over repeated failures to report certain criminal history and dishonorable discharge data for members of the Military Services into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Federal laws, as well as laws in many states including Pennsylvania, prohibit those with such criminal convictions or dishonorable discharges from the Armed Forces from purchasing firearms, or receiving firearms related licenses. In Philadelphia, the NICS database is a critical part of background checks used in evaluating licenses to carry.
“Philadelphia, which for years has been plagued by gun violence, relies on this reporting when making the crucial decision whether a license to carry applicant should be permitted to carry a firearm,” said Mayor Kenney. “We’re joining in this suit because reporting these records is absolutely critical to those decisions. The background check system only works if it contains the proper records.”
The suit seeks an injunction and judicial oversight to ensure ongoing compliance with DoD’s obligations to submit records to the FBI for inclusion in the background check system. If granted, the judicial order would compel the DoD to ensure that all current and past disqualifying records have been submitted to the background check system, and would ensure that appropriate systems are in place to achieve ongoing compliance and hold accountable those responsible for record submission.
“The failure of the Department of Defense to fulfill this reporting mandate is longstanding and well documented, dating back two decades to a 1997 Inspector General report,” said Philadelphia Solicitor Sozi Pedro Tulante. “The accuracy and integrity of the federal databases is crucial to Philadelphia’s ability to properly evaluate license to carry applications and protect the public safety.”
The issue of DoD reporting to NICS was highlighted nationally last month in the wake of the murders of 26 parishioners at a Texas church. The gunman had been criminally convicted by the Air Force, but was able to purchase firearms because that conviction had not been reported to NICS. In addition to the 1997 IG report, recent hearings and reports have documented that the failures are ongoing at a rate of 20% to 30% across both the fingerprint and NICS databases.
The Commonwealth maintains the Pennsylvania Instant Criminal Background Check System (“PICS”), which queries NICS pursuant to agreements between the Commonwealth and the Department of Justice. Philadelphia, in turn, checks PICS to determine if a license to carry applicant should be permitted to carry a firearm as one of the first steps in its background check process. PICS then initiates a search on the applicant in the databases that make up NICS and reports back to Philadelphia.
If NICS records indicate the applicant is not permitted to purchase a firearm, the application is denied. If NICS records come back ‘clean,’ Philadelphia conducts additional background check research.
The lawsuit was filed today in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia. In addition to the DoD, defendants include the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the directors of the DoD law enforcement entities charged with submitting records.