Americans for Gun Safety

Press release from the Pennsylvania State Police:
(Note: I am assuming that, since this is from a governmental agency, it is in the public domain. Boldface emphasis is mine.)

 
N E W S   R E L E A S E                 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
                                                        State Police Department
                                                        Commonwealth News Bureau
                                                        Room 308, Main Capitol
                                                        Harrisburg, PA  17120

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   CONTACT:        Jack J. Lewis
Tpr. Linette G. Quinn     (717) 783-5556

STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER EVANKO FLUNKS GROUP FOR POOR RESEARCH
OF STATE’S GUN-BUYER SCREENING SYSTEM

HARRISBURG (Jan. 16) -- State Police Commissioner Paul J. Evanko today said an
organization that criticized Pennsylvania’s computerized screening system for
potential firearms buyers should be given a failing grade for its shoddy
research.
“The statistics show that the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) is one
of the best -- if not the very best -- in the nation for keeping weapons out of
the hands of those who shouldn’t have them,” Col. Evanko said.  “We are
extremely proud of PICS.”
Col. Evanko was responding to a report issued by a Washington, D.C.-based group
called Americans for Gun Safety Foundation (AGSF), which gave failing grades to
22 states, including Pennsylvania, for purportedly having inadequate
computerized criminal, domestic-violence and mental-disability records for use
in screening potential firearms buyers.
“The group’s grade purportedly is based on data from the U.S. Department of
Justice and what AGSF terms ‘state sources,’” Col.
Evanko said.  “The fact is that the group did not contact State
Police for information, which we would have been happy to supply.  With
accurate information, I think AGSF would have drawn a different conclusion.”
Col. Evanko said the AGSF report falsely claims:
·       That Pennsylvania does not computerize mental-health records that are
used do determine whether an individual is permitted to purchase a weapon or
obtain a permit to carry a firearm; and
·       Only 46 percent of the state’s criminal records are computerized.
“The truth is that all of the mental-health records provided by the counties to
State Police are computerized and 85 percent of the criminal records have been
computerized,” Col. Evanko said.  “The only criminal records not yet
computerized are those from the 1950s and earlier.”
[See the PA State Police link for the complete press release]

"A study of background checks alleges hundreds of Kansans bought guns illegally. Not so, ATF and KBI agents say."

By Ron Sylvester  The Wichita Eagle

"State and federal officials challenged the accuracy of a report issued Wednesday that claimed an inadequate system of criminal background checks allowed 10,000 felons to buy guns over the past three years."