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Unresolved Login Issue Prevented Florida 'Concealed Weapon' Background Checks For Over a Year (tampabay.com)

An anonymous reader quotes the Tampa Bay Times For more than a year, the state of Florida failed to conduct national background checks on tens of thousands of applications for concealed weapons permits, potentially allowing drug addicts or people with a mental illness to carry firearms in public... The employee in charge of the background checks could not log into the system, the investigator learned. The problem went unresolved until discovered by another worker in March 2017 -- meaning that for more than a year applications got approved without the required background check.

During that time, which coincided with the June 12, 2016 shooting at Pulse nightclub that left 50 dead, the state saw an unprecedented spike in applications for concealed weapons permits. There were 134,000 requests for permits in the fiscal year ending in June 2015. The next 12 months broke a record, 245,000 applications, which was topped again in 2017 when the department received 275,000 applications... There are now 1.8 million concealed weapon permit holders in Florida.

The employee with the login issue, who has since been fired, "told the Times she had been working in the mailroom when she was given oversight of the database in 2013. 'I didn't understand why I was put in charge of it.'"

20 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. Now can we audit the states use of the database? by ebrandsberg · · Score: 3, Informative

    Since each state should be having their sales verified through this database, the FBI should be able to audit how many queries are made per state, to validate that they match the number of sales being made. If there is a significant discrepancy, then the state should be investigated for failure to follow procedure. This should be EASY to catch, and will help find the points where failures are occurring, like this.

  2. What was the death toll? by Kohath · · Score: 4, Insightful

    All those concealed carry permits without background checks? It's an authoritarian's worst nightmare!

    How many murders and shootings were committed by those unvetted CCW holders? I will guess zero.

    1. Re:What was the death toll? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Just because the media said they didn't know of any doesn't mean there weren't hundreds.

      Really? So you think there are hundreds of people willing to commit murder, but unwilling to carry a concealed gun without a permit?

      Many states allow unrestricted conceal carry, with no license required. When they passed laws to allow this, some people predicted that shootings would soar since every road rage incident would turn into a homicide. Others predicted that crime would fall since more armed and law abiding people would be a deterrent. Here's what actually happened: It didn't make any difference.

    2. Re: What was the death toll? by Kohath · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But it did make a difference... it gave police something else to charge minorities with.

      Gun controllers can completely take minority voters for granted. So they see no need to consider gun laws' impact on minorities.

    3. Re:What was the death toll? by superdave80 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Not when they happen in Chicago or Baltimore.

      So, you think a guy from Chicago or Baltimore drove down to Florida, applied for a concealed weapon permit, then drove back to their home city and shot somebody? You... are a freakin' loon.

  3. Laws and Regulations are the tools by oldgraybeard · · Score: 3, Interesting

    of politicians and government. Once they pass them they for the most part don't care about whether they work, are effective, harmful, who gets hurt or are properly implemented by the government bureaucrats. They got their bullet point/talking point for campaign ads/tools to attack their political opponents and they just move on, problem solved.

    I also want to say again, about gun violence, what is it about our culture and society that creates individuals who think gun violence is a good way to get their fame on social media/solve their problems.
    Maybe the real issue is not directly the gun (a tool) but the person and their state of mind along with our culture and society! Lets be open minded and at least ask the question.

    Just my 2 cents ;)

    1. Re:Laws and Regulations are the tools by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I also want to say again, about gun violence, what is it about our culture and society that creates individuals who think gun violence is a good way to get their fame on social media/solve their problems.

      I don't think there's anything particularly special about the United States in this regard. You find similar types of violence throughout the world. The Middle East is rife with it, but it takes on a much more religious bent. In European countries where access to guns is much more restricted, the weapon of choice now seems to be using vehicles on crowded streets. We even saw this in Canada from someone who carried out such an attack that had nothing to do with religion, lest anyone think this is just somehow a Muslim thing. There was even that Norwegian bloke from several years ago that massacred school children, so again I don't believe this is solely an American issue.

      There's probably some illusion that this is a much larger problem then it actually is due to increased media coverage, and simply having more people than ever before on the planet. It's entirely possible for the total number of incidents to increase and for the per capita rate to decrease at the same time as a consequence of a growing population. Twenty-four hour news and the internet also mean that we're able to hear about any event that occurs, often as it's occurring. Previously, you might have found out about a major event a day or two later, typically with more information as reporters were able to piece together what had happened. Now you'll see a news story about something that's ongoing with little in the way of concrete information.

      I believe that psychologists have stated that some of what the media was doing (showing pictures of the perpetrator, discussing why they did it, etc.) when we first started trending in this direction was likely to cause more incidents. If you give people attention for doing something, the kinds of people who crave attention are more likely to do those things. I don't know if it's completely fair to place the blame squarely there either. To some degree I suspect that up until some catalyst event, it had simply not occurred to most people to do something like that. Look again at the example of the use of vehicles to plow through crowds of people. Up until the last few years, this was almost entirely unheard of or if it did occur, more likely to be an accident or the result of an elderly person who perhaps shouldn't have been allowed to drive any longer. And soon, some new and unimaginable means of destruction will be unleashed on the world, and I'm not sure we'll understand it any better.

  4. None of that matters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Employee is given a task, then doesn't do it, because cannot.
    Boss doesn't find out for over a year that employee didn't do the assigned work.

    My first thought is that it isn't really fair to fire the employee for that, but that really depends on whether she made clear to her boss she couldn't do the job. And why not give her the old job back, was she no good at that? If not, why give her oversight of this database? Do explain that one, please.

    But the boss not finding out about it for over a year? Or the boss' boss? And so on? That's inexcusable. They're supposed to know that sort of thing, that's their job. So if any heads are to roll, I expect at least several levels of middle management to start sprouting vacancies. If not, the firing of managers shall continue until the idiocy stops.

    Right up to the governor if necessary. Go on, have a full-blown election with only new candidates over the firing of an ex-mailroom clerk. Or what is this democracy thing for, anyway?

    1. Re:None of that matters by irving47 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They probably "HAD" to fire her when it became clear it was going to become public knowledge... Yeah, something doesn't sound right.

      --
      I had a sucky sig.
    2. Re:None of that matters by Zocalo · · Score: 5, Informative

      She was 'given oversight of the database' of the DB in 2013. Failed to run the checks, starting in 2015. Not a very good liar.

      You missed a rather relevant bit from the middle of TFS:

      On April 7, 2016, 40 days after records show the department stopped using the database, Wilde reported to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that her log-in to the background check system wasn't working.

      So it looks like the checks were progressing just fine until late February 2016, which implies that Wilde's login was presumably working from 2013 through until some point around then, depending on how long the system could run without Wilde logging in. Sure, Wilde dropped the ball by failing to follow up when it wasn't resolved but, regardless of that failure, her supervisors (and their supervisors, etc., etc.) also failed to query a massive spike in concealled carry permits on the books - up over 40% in just two years. Setting aside the issue of gun control, it takes a whole other level of managerial incompetence to fail to react to a stat like that.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    3. Re:None of that matters by Zocalo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, I'd have likely fired Wilde too, but certainly a minimum of a disciplinary for sitting on the broken login for so long without following up and getting her supervisor(s) involved to escalate it, and quite likely her supervisors would be investigated for potential incompetence as well. The problem is that the story doesn't really detail what her role and interaction with the system was, what kind of proportion of her working day it was meant to occupy, or how much supervision this part of her job was subject to, all of which are quite relevant if you are trying to work out what might be an appropriate response from your armchair. That her employer did fire her is really all we have.

      Clearly the sheer number of applications wouldn't allow manual processing of the forms by a single person, even if it was just to review each application was correctly completed and send it on, so her role seems most likely to have been either managing the batch processing of submitted forms or supervising a team's work. For instance, iIf that was only a small part of her job then that doesn't necessarily mean she was just "acting busy", and if her involvement with the system was periodic - say every several weeks - then the apparent 40 day delay in calling support could actually be a non-issue. Regardless of any possible mitigating circumstances that clearly were not sufficient to get her off the hook, it seems pretty clear that the entire department is suffering from the symptoms of "good enough for government work", and the buck for that kind of issue stops in the Governor's office.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
  5. Re:Now can we audit the states use of the database by mysidia · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Since each state should be having their sales verified through this database, the FBI should be able to audit how many queries are made per state

    IMO: When a successful background check is made; the national database should issue a Background verification control number which MUST be recorded by the states in their own databases and must also
      appear stamped on a concealed carry permit; A permit without the correct control number is not valid. The control number can be looked up later and will match to the personal information that was used to query the background database.

    If the background database info of that person changes later, for example an arrest or conviction is added, then the state will be sent a notification and be required to revoke the concealed carry permit.

  6. Re:Good question by BronsCon · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Dickey Amendment restricts only the CDC (e.g. not the entirety of the government), only restricts them from advocacy or promotion of gun control (e.g. not the study thereof), and only places that restriction on the specific portion of their funding earmarked for injury prevention and control (e.g. not their entire budget). Perhaps you should actually read the damn thing sometime?

    Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong. But, if you choose to do that, be prepared to explain how they've actually been able to legally conduct such research (this from 2013) and even as recently as 2015.

    --
    APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
  7. Re:Another loop hole by BronsCon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I keep hearing about this supposed loophole, but all I see every time I go to a gun show is licensed dealers performing background checks as required by law and the odd exempt private party transfer (except in states where private parties are required to transfer through a dealer, in which case the background checks still happen) -- and private party transfers can occur anywhere, not just at gun shows. In fact, most gun shows don't allow private sales at all, so they're actually less likely to occur at gun shows than they are in a private residence.

    The real loophole is what I like to call the "dark alley loophole", wherein stolen and/or smuggled guns are sold out of some guy's trunk in a dark alley. Not legal in the slightest, but it's where the guns used in the vast majority of crimes come from.

    Nobody is using a weapon with their name on it to commit a crime, and nobody is willingly transferring a weapon with their name on it to someone else who may use it to commit a crime without ensuring that the transfer has been recorded. Too much liability.

    --
    APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
  8. Re:Now can we audit the states use of the database by GWXerog · · Score: 4, Informative

    Non-licensed gun dealers at gun shows would be illegal. Being a non-licensed gun dealer anywhere is illegal. Are you referring to private sales?

  9. Re:Good question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The pattern for everything I've looked at so far:

    Guns and Ammo summary: X!!!!

    nap.edu report (title: Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence): There are studies that say X, there are some that say not X, sometimes studies of X do not take into account Y. Further research is needed.

    To pit it mildly, it looks like Guns and Ammo is omitting a lot of the context from the NAP report. It's almost like they have an agenda or something.

  10. Re:Now can we audit the states use of the database by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Non-licensed gun dealers at gun shows would be illegal. Being a non-licensed gun dealer anywhere is illegal. Are you referring to private sales?

    Yes, I'm referring to gun dealers who go to shows and claim to be "private sellers".

    If you've ever been to a gun show, you've seen them. As a lifelong gun owner,, I've actually purchased guns from these characters.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  11. Re:Not an IT problem! by Freischutz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Government staffing has issues. Who was this employee related to? Patronage lives at all levels of government.

    Employee's story doesn't make sense, dates don't line up. Who was her supervisor? What's his/her version? Next supervisor up?

    More to the point, why wasn't the system constructed in such a way that it is impossible for a bureaucrat to approve an application and issue a CCW permit without first completing a background check? That and the queue of angry NRA members waiting on their CCW licenses should provide a sufficient motivation to resolve any login issues post haste.

  12. Re:Now can we audit the states use of the database by cold+fjord · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you've ever been to a gun show, you've seen them. As a lifelong gun owner,, I've actually purchased guns from these characters.

    So you're the one you've been warning us about for years? Huh

    And you didn't turn in either the ones you thought were illegally dealing guns, or yourself? Huh.

    So your years of complaints and invective on the matter boil down to, "Our system is soooo f-----d! Why the hell isn't anyone arresting me for what I did?"

    It seems we've found something that you and the NRA agree on.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  13. Re:Good question by tlhIngan · · Score: 4, Informative

    And yet the CDC did exactly that research. https://www.nap.edu/read/18319...

    Guess what? Guns help prevent crime more than they cause it. And we're not talking about indirect deterrence here where knowing a populace is armed keeps potential criminals scared. We're only talking about direct defensive uses of firearms.

    If you can't be arsed to read the whole thing, Guns and Ammo summarized it here http://www.gunsandammo.com/pol...

    Funny, because for over 20 years, the CDC was prohibited from studying gun violence. Yes, the NRA has bought legislation that prevents any money the CDC gets from going into gun violence research.

    So obviously the CDC did not conduct the research, because they're not allowed to. They're allowed to contract it out for no money, which basically means really self-interested researchers (i.e., industry) gets to write an opinion piece about it.

    Your article is dated to 2013, and the CDC has not conducted any gun violence research since 1996 (Dickey Amendment).

    And all my article states is the AMA is lobbying for its appeal since 2016, because one really cannot make any sort of judgements without proper research. Of course, the NRA opposes this, almost as if they're worried about the real truth, that it might be the next cigarettes, or leaded gasoline, or climate change, or something. Or it might be because their whole set of mottoes end up being lies...