Florida Failed On Gun Background Checks Because Of Log-In Problem

Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam's office failed to review criminal background checks on concealed gun permit applicants for more than a year because an employee had problems logging into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

The Agriculture Department said the employee of the Division of Licensing in charge of determining eligibility for gun permit applicants was fired. An Office of Inspector General report, marked “confidential,” detailed the background check failure. The employee stopped checking the background check system after she encountered log-in problems in February 2016. The problem wasn’t caught until March 2017.

The mistake, first reported Friday by the Tampa Bay Times, was not made public for more than a year. The report was published on June 5, 2017. Putnam is the GOP front-runner candidate for governor who has professed to be a “sellout for the NRA.”

The Times initially reported that Putnam's office failed to conduct the background checks, but clarified its report on Saturday to say that the background checks were not reviewed by the employee after being completed. Putnam's office said 291 people received concealed weapon permits who were not supposed to have them.

Putnam's office released the following statement in response to the report: "To be clear, a criminal background investigation was completed on every single application. Upon discovery of this former employee's negligence in not conducting the further review required on 365 applications, we immediately completed full background checks on those 365 applications, which resulted in 291 revocations. The former employee was both deceitful and negligent, and we immediately launched an investigation and implemented safeguards to ensure this never happens again.”

The report says a manager identified as Lisa Wilde was responsible for reviewing applicants through the background check system, but had trouble logging into the system. “I dropped the ball,” Wilde told investigators with the Department of Agriculture. “I know I did that, I should have been doing it and I didn’t.”

Read the Tampa Bay Times story here.

Image via Shutterstock