Firearms Check System Has "Significant Gaps"

According to a new report released Monday by the Kasich administration, the system put in place by Ohio to keep guns out of reach of dangerous people is riddled with problems.

Law enforcement agencies and courts across the state routinely fail to upload data added to the National Criminal Verification System so that individuals subject to criminal warrants, orders of Civil Protection and Family Violence Protection Orders are not allowed the report found.

Governor John Kasich estimated that 20 to 30 percent of cases are not reported in the background check system.

"So you have a gap – a big gap – in the information that everybody should know when they make a second amendment and make sure the guns are not in the hands of the wrong people," Kasich said. press conference.

The background check system was created after the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan by a disturbed man. Federal law prohibits certain persons from buying or receiving a firearm, including fugitives, drug addicts, persons sentenced to one year or more in prison, or offenses punishable by two years. years of imprisonment or more, convicted of domestic violence and others.

Related: Ohio Governor's Candidates on Firearms and School Safety

The report calls for 22 changes in the way Ohio feeds the system into data, including training and education on reporting requirements; eliminate redundant efforts; and design a more strategic approach. The working group has issued a compliance manual for officials responsible for reporting data.

Kasich also signed a decree ordering police services to download protection orders and warrants into the LEADS computer system to fill a gap.

Kasich, who leaves in January, also called on state legislators to adopt his gun restrictions at the next "lame duck" session – after election day but before the end of the election. year.

"These things will become law. I do not know when but the public pressure will continue to rise, "said Kasich.

He expressed his frustration that lawmakers had hesitated over his "red flag" bill, which would allow family members or law enforcement to apply for a court order to remove weapons from someone else. one that seems to be a danger to themselves or others.

"We are all in. Our families could be in danger, it is not that difficult to do, and it should be done," he said.

Kasich signed all the gun rights expansion projects to cross his office, but in February, after the shooting in Parkland, Florida, he changed position.

Related: Kasich Proposes Major Changes to Ohio Firearms Laws, Says