Q: I’ve been unable to find a concrete answer on the following question and I’m hoping that you can help. How often are the NICS databases updated and how accurate are they? Scenario: A restraining order is filed against our potential buyer several days to a week ago and he comes in today to purchase a firearm. Is it likely that NICS will have been updated when we run his check because of this? How quickly are local and state records obtained by and entered into the NICS background check system? I’ve heard that it can be weeks or even months given cutbacks at the federal level… if not longer due to states that don’t report, or are also lax in reporting in a timely manner. Additionally, I’ve read that somewhere around nineteen or so of the fifty states are required to report mental health information to NICS, due to federal program grants issued as incentives to those states that willingly report information, in a timely manner, that would prohibit a potential buyer from making a firearm purchase. Is our company criminally or civilly liable for transferring a firearm to a customer who received a “proceed” even though there may have been information that NICS hadn’t received, yet, which would have ultimately caused a “deny”? While nothing seemed sketchy about the hypothetical sale in my scenario, if I find out later, on the news, that I or one of my team members sold a firearm to somebody who later committed a crime, even though the NICS response was a “proceed,” are we in trouble?
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