Point of Contact Firearms Program Information


Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Act)

On November 30, 1998, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Act) was signed into law. Under the Act, Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) must contact the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) prior to the transfer of a firearm to an unlicensed individual in order to receive information on whether the individual is disqualified by federal or state law from possessing a firearm.

    FFLs will contact the NICS via either a point of contact (POC) established within their respective state or through the NICS Operation Center at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), depending upon whether the state is a POC for the NICS.

      Nevada FFLs use the Point of Contact Firearms Program in the Department of Public Safety's Records Bureau as their Point of Contact rather than going to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System directly. The advantage to this is that the Point of Contact Firearms Program has access to Nevada criminal history records unavailable to agencies outside of the state, as well as the national records.

        The Point of Contact Firearms Program staff will proceed the sale or delay it pending further investigation. The Point of Contact Firearms Program background check service may only be used in conjunction with a firearm transaction.

          Currently, the Point of Contact Firearms Program handles more than 100,000 requests per year. Also, the Point of Contact Firearms Program staff helps federal and local authorities track illegal firearms activity within Nevada.

            The background checks are conducted to ascertain if the person attempting to obtain a firearm falls within any of the prohibited categories as outlined in Section 922(g) or (n) of Title 18, United States Code or any Nevada specific instances.

            These prohibited categories are:

            922(g)1 – Person who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year 

            922(g)2 – Person who is a fugitive from justice 

            922(g)3 – Person who is an unlawful users of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) 

            922(g)4 – Person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or have been committed to a mental institution  

            922(g)5 – Person who, being an alien, is illegally or unlawfully in the United States 

            922(g)6 – Person who has been discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions 

            922(g)7 – Person who, having been citizens of the United States, has renounced their U.S. citizenship 

            922(g)8 – Person who is subject to a court order that restrains them from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner, or from engaging in other conduct that would place the partner or child in reasonable fear of bodily injury 

            922(g)9 – Person who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence 

            922(n) – Person who is under indictment or information for any crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year 

              Specific Disqualifications to the State Of Nevada

              Felony/Gross Misdemeanor probation – Weapons: You shall not possess, have access to, or have under your control, any type of weapon.

                Per N.R.S. 202.360, the State Of Nevada does not recognize the “restoration of firearms rights” from another state, a person wishing to regain firearm rights for the State Of Nevada needs to be in possession of pardon from the state of conviction that does not restrict his or her firearm rights, as shown below.  

                N.R.S. 202.360  

                1.  A person shall not own or have in his or her possession or under his or her custody or control any firearm if the person:

                      (a) Has been convicted of a felony in this or any other state, or in any political subdivision thereof, or of a felony in violation of the laws of the United States of America, unless the person has received a pardon and the pardon does not restrict his or her right to bear arms;