Be Your Own Detective

Instant background checks on retail gun buyers could infringe on your 2nd amendment rights, or fail to stop a criminal from buying a gun. Mandatory background checks and waiting periods don’t stop crime and violence. National criminal history records are inaccurate. The dealer calls the Federal NCIC system, or in some states, the State’s criminal [...]

Following a 2004 murder of a University of NC student by a fellow student who had a criminal history of violence against women, colleges and universities are seriously looking into criminal background checks on future applicants. Can you blame them? The victim’s family came to the decision that the University’s admission policies were to blame. [...]

After a criminal charge is dismissed, you might assume you would have a clean record, but in a routine criminal background check by an employer, the arrest shows up. Years later, the arrest still shows up. How can this be? How is this possible? It’s because the arrest was never expunged. Hypothetically, you are arrested, [...]

If you’re like most people, you probably were required to be fingerprinted at one time or another, for the purposes of a criminal background check, if you ever applied for a professional license. Teachers, Nurses, Foster Parents, Insurance Agents, Adjusters, Title Agents, HAZMAT drivers, and even college students are a few examples. In some states, [...]

A common growing complaint of hiring managers is the quality of job applicants just isn’t what it used to be. When a criminal background check turns up something, that comes as little surprise. Almost every category of background check turned up more hits in 2006 than previous years. Criminal records checks yielded 9.1% hits, up [...]

Years before the Virginia Tech shootings, there were early warning signs. In 2005, a court order was issued to Seung Hui Cho. “Cho is mentally ill and in need of hospitalization, and presents an imminent danger to self or others as a result of mental illness.” Federal law prohibits anyone whom a judge has adjudicated [...]

Amazingly, in this post 9-11 era, US Military bases were rarely doing criminal background checks on civilians who routinely access military bases. Had checks been performed, the 6 Islamic militants who plotted their terrorist attack on Ft Dix NJ, would have been arrested long ago, instead of more recently from a lucky tip-off. 3 of [...]

In America, convicted criminals are not supposed to be able to buy guns, but many fall through the cracks during the required criminal background checks and are ok’d to buy a gun. According to a report by the US Dept of Justice titled “Broken Records” this is a real problem. 22 states received failing grades [...]

In response to the recruitment shortage with the ongoing war in Iraq, criminal background waivers for new US Army recruits have increased to 65% from 2003 to 2006, according to DOD records. The US has an all-volunteer Army and the Bush Administration pledged not to have a draft, the US Army has employed various strategies [...]

As more employers are running criminal background checks on job applicants, critics are complaining that this is unfair to blacks, since they are more likely to have criminal records. Actually a new study done by The Journal of Law and Economics have found just the opposite to be the case. Employers who run criminal background [...]