Congressman Dan Goldman Fights to Address Deadly Firearm Purchase Loophole, Require Completed Background Check on All Gun Sales
The ‘Default Proceed’ Loophole Allows Gun Buyers to Obtain a Firearm if Background Check Takes More than 3 Business Days
In 2015, Dylann Roof Used ‘Default Proceed’ Loophole, Also Called ‘Charleston Loophole,’ to Purchase Firearm Used in Murder of Nine Churchgoers at Emanuel AME Church
The ‘Default Proceed Sale Transparency Act’ Would Require Gun Dealers to Alert the FBI of Sales Without Completed Background Checks, Require FBI to Prioritize the Completion of These Background Checks
Read the Bill Here
Washington D.C – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) joined Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) in introducing the ‘Default Proceed Sale Transparency Act’ to address the 'Default Proceed’ Loophole, which allows some gun sales to be completed without a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check. Under current law, federal firearm licensees (FFLs) are permitted to automatically sell a firearm to a buyer if an FBI background check is not completed after three business days. Additionally, the FBI is not informed of the sale unless they do complete the background check and then contact the seller after the fact.
In 2015, Dylann Roof was granted a ‘default proceed’ to obtain the handgun he used to kill nine churchgoers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. This loophole is now also known as a ‘Charleston Loophole.’
The ‘Default Proceed Sale Transparency Act’ requires gun sellers to alert the FBI when a gun sale is made without a completed background check and requires the FBI to prioritize these background checks to quickly retrieve guns when a failed background check leads to a delayed denial.
“There are millions of guns currently out on our streets that were sold without a completed background check as a result of the ‘Charleston loophole’ that represent an abject failure of our current background check system to keep Americans safe,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “These defects in our laws are allowing weapons of war to slip through the cracks and fall into the wrong hands, as happened when Dylann Roof, in an act of unspeakable hate, used this loophole to murder nine in Charleston. While we continue to fight to close this loophole once and for all, we must also ensure that the FBI is able to track down firearms that should have never been sold in the first place. No gun sale should ever go forward on a technicality.”
In 2020 and 2021, the FBI processed nearly 24 million background checks. However, nearly 4.5 percent of background checks, more than one million checks, took longer than three days, allowing a gun to be sold without a completed background check.
The Default Proceed Sale Transparency Act would address the consequences of this loophole by:
Requiring licensed firearm dealers to report to the FBI when they sell a firearm to someone whose background check was not completed;
Direct the FBI to prioritize completion of background checks for these default proceed sales;
Prohibit the destruction of open NICS records which currently must be destroyed if a background check is not completed in 88 days; and
Require the FBI to publicly report, on an annual basis, the number of default proceed sales that took place, including how many times an individual who should not have been able to purchase a firearm was able to do so and the number of firearms that were eventually retrieved from said individuals.
Require the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms, and Explosives to publicly report the average time to retrieve firearms sold as a delayed denial, the number of firearms that were delayed denials retrieved in criminal investigations, and the number of firearms that were delayed denials retrieved in criminal investigations across state lines.
Congressman Dan Goldman is committed to protecting our children, families, and communities by ensuring firearms do not end up in the hands of potentially dangerous individuals.
In August, Goldman cosponsored a package of legislation that both establishes a federal “red flag” program and strengthens state and local efforts to support the implementation of extreme risk protection order laws and the ‘End Gun Violence Act’ to prohibit individuals convicted of a violent misdemeanor from purchasing handguns or ammunition for five years after conviction.
Earlier this week, the Congressman also cosponsored the ‘Bolstering Security Against Ghost Guns Act’ to enhance the United States Department of Homeland Security’s response to the threat posed by unserialized and untraceable firearms that can be bought online and easily assembled at home without having to pass a background check.
Congressman Goldman is a Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and is Chair of the Dads Caucus Gun Violence Prevention Working Group.
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