Record background checks in 4th quarter

Last year overall saw a 47% increase from 2019

The last three months of 2020 were the busiest quarter in the history of Pennsylvania Instant Check System used to determine an individual’s legal ability to acquire a license to carry firearms or obtain a firearm through a purchase or transfer, state police announced Wednesday.

PICS completed 420,581 background checks Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, shattering the record of 406,151 checks set in the third quarter of 2020.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, 272,901 PICS checks were conducted, nearly 65 percent of the total a year later.

“Our department is proud of PICS and the men and women be

hind the system who worked hard to meet record-setting demand throughout 2020,” said Capt. Mark Shaver, assistant director of the state police Bureau of Records and Identification. “For the year, we saw a 47 percent increase in PICS requests from 2019, and the team stepped up to answer the call during a global pandemic.”

Established in 1998, PICS is used by county sheriffs, chiefs of police of cities of the first class, and licensed firearms dealers in Pennsylvania to determine an individual’s legal ability to acquire a license to carry firearms or obtain a firearm through a purchase or transfer.

State police also released

the number of firearms purchase denials, subsequent investigations, and arrests resulting from such investigations for the period of Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.

A total of 7,458 people were denied in the quarter, compared to 4,106 during the fourth quarter of 2019.

Of those denials, 1,317 were referred to law enforcement agencies and 352 were referred to state police, and 33 were referred to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In Pennsylvania, a person commits a third degree felony if they make a false oral or written statement on any federal or state agency form or willfully presents false identification that is likely to deceive a firearm seller, licensed dealer, or licensed manufacturer, troopers said.