In the near future, I will introduce legislation to eliminate the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS), the firearm background check system used by the Pennsylvania State Police to conduct instant background checks on prospective firearm purchasers, in favor of the National Instant Check System (NICS).

Each state is free to determine the extent of its involvement with NICS. Currently, 36 states, the District of Columbia, and three territories use NICS successfully to conduct a firearms background check on their behalf. Thirteen states, including Pennsylvania, duplicate the NICS process with an additional system for all firearm sales. Other states have successfully migrated away from the state-run firearms background check system. In the past, NICS did not have the capability to customize its software to each state’s laws and requirements for a firearms background check, but today they do. Pennsylvania can successfully upgrade to NICS and improve the efficiency and quality of the background check being completed while reducing costs and eliminating the fee that citizens pay to exercise a Constitutional Right.

In addition to being unnecessary, PICS is also expensive. While it was envisioned to be fiscally self-sufficient at the time it went online in 1998. A 2020 report from the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) found that revenues from the instant check and firearm surcharge fees have not been sufficient to fully cover PICS program costs, with revenues generally meeting between 31 percent and 49 percent of PICS annual expenditures. Two-thirds of PICS' revenue comes from the General Fund to sustain its annual budget of over $8 million - 95% of which covers personnel costs. I believe this money, as well as the fees used to sustain PICS, can be put to better use than supporting a duplicative firearm background check system of limited value.

Eliminating PICS will also streamline the administrative burdens faced by FFL dealers surrounding the sale and purchase of firearms, while at the same time, maintaining public safety.

This legislation will save the state millions of dollars while at the same time ensuring continued public safety with respect to gun purchases through the national system which most states now utilize.

For these reasons, I ask you to join me in co-sponsoring this bill.