NICS and name changes

C

Coinneach

Staff Alumnus
Background: I legally changed my name in April 1996, for personal reasons.

IIRC, the method by which NICS is supposed to operate is by comparing one's identifying info against a database of known felons. As I've never been so much as arrested, I shouldn't appear in this database.

The first few times I bought guns under the current system, the sales were approved immediately, no questions asked.

The fourth time, the droid expressed consternation about my name not matching their records.

WTF?

I shouldn't be in their records at all, if they're being honest about the method.

I explained to the droid that the name change was perfectly legal, and should not be an issue in the first place, for the reason noted above.

The droid said, "You'll have to put your former name on the paperwork as an AKA."

I said, "I'm not known by that name; I haven't been for nearly three years. Therefore, you're telling to me to falsify a government document."

Droid: "If you don't do it, I'll have to deny the transaction."

I took a deep breath, counted to 10, and said, "Fine. But if I get nailed for this, you're going down too, and so will everyone in your chain of command."

Droid approved the transfer, but...

Should this have happened in the first place? Aren't the thugs openly proclaiming that they lied about how the system works?
 
Well, I'm confused as well.

Was the droid an LEO? And, is it possible the conflict in the records was finding two names coming up under your drivers license number? Did you put your social security number (optional) on the BATF 4473?
 
No, the droid was your average burger-flipper-mentality idjit that mans the phones at C[olorado]BI.

My former name does show up on my DL rip, but that shouldn't matter, as they're only supposed to compare my DL number to a database of known felons. According to Comrade Reno, at least.

I have a Ruger .40 carbine and a Colt 1991A1 on layaway. After that, everything I buy will be private, not FFL. I'm getting g*dd*mn tired of being treated like a criminal.

------------------
Dear Mr. Clinton:
If you come for my guns, be prepared to write a lot
of letters to grieving widows.

Sincerely,
Coinneach Fitzpatrick
 
Coinneach...

This probably won't help, but if you recall, the concept of a limit on firearm purchases (x guns per month) was bandied about as an inclusion in Brady I. Then there was the extended period NICS would keep the data: originally the dealer calls in, the droid checks a list, says ok and the data/info about you was supposed to be immediately destroyed. Then we find out it was to be kept a few days and the last I recall they keep it for 90 days and then destroy it.
Well, anyone who believes that is a fool. The very nature of bureacracy is to keep every scrap of data they obtain. And then it propagates...there are zillions of governmental departments that love to play with raw data. The alleged purpose of Brady was to correlate all states info so a felon in New York couldn't buy a gun in Texas. Sarah Brady last week said that the additional 5 day waiting period is to allow local jurisdiction time to check. Now longarms are included.
Therefore, it doesn't surprise me at all that they linked your present name to your old one. SS#s have been used for years and years to correlate data. The only purpose is to complile a Federal list of all firearms owners. It is de facto registration.

Read the BATF homepage and pay attention to their mission statement.."stopping crime and collecting revenue" come before "protecting the public". They keep and correlate all data despite what they say.

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"



[This message has been edited by DC (edited March 08, 1999).]
 
Well, anyone who believes that is a fool.

What are you saying? That a federal agency would actually lie to us?!

Say it ain't so!

(aside for the sarcasm-impaired: yes, they do, they can, and they will)


------------------
Dear Mr. Clinton:
If you come for my guns, be prepared to write a lot
of letters to grieving widows.

Sincerely,
Coinneach Fitzpatrick
 
UPDATE:

On 12 March, I sent the following message to a_nics@leo.gov.


To whom it may concern:

I legally changed my name in April 1996. I did not adopt another alias; this was a name *change*.

On the NICS facts page, the following text appears:

The NICS response will consist of a notice to the FFL that the transfer may proceed, may not proceed, or is delayed pending further review of a matching record(s)

Therein lies the contradiction. The first few times I was called into NICS, I was approved immediately, since I've never been arrested, much less convicted of a felony. Since the 3rd time, every time I've been called in, the operator has expressed consternation at my former name appearing in the database. Not as a felon, just for information. After I explain *every single time* that I legally changed my name 3 years ago, the transaction has been approved. The last few times, I've been instructed to write in my former name on the 4473 as an AKA, regardless of the fact that I'm *not* also known by that name.

If I read the regs correctly, the way NICS is supposed to operate is by comparing a buyer's identifying info to a database of *known felons*. If this is correct, I shouldn't be in the system *at all*, under my former or current name.

Therefore you have two problems:

Your operators are instructing me to commit a felony - falsifying a government document - in the exercise of a right; and
Your operators are operating in direct contradiction to the program's stated method, that is, I appear in a "database of known felons" despite the fact that I'm not a felon.

How do you explain these discrepancies?

Awaiting a reasonable answer, I remain

Coinneach Fitzpatrick
coinneach@uswest.net

By the 19th, I hadn't received an answer, so I went to my dealer to find out for myself what the results of that flame were. Truth be told, I expected them to tell the owner to keep me there for the BATF.

I was approved for the purchase of a pistol and a shotgun immediately. No gripes about the name change, no AKA on the 4473.

Score 1 for the Good Guys!

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"An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil
is not overcome by fleeing from it." -- Col. Jeff Cooper
 
(In Irish brogue...)
And a loud and sincere cheer for Mister Fitzpatrick!
Hip, hip, HOORAY! (X3)
(from the O'Connors and the Weir clans, you see!)
 
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