July 09--REPORTING FROM SAN FRANCISCO -- A program to determine whether potentially dangerous people own guns in violation of state law is plagued with delays that pose a "continued risk to public safety," California's auditor reported Thursday.
Auditor Elaine M. Howle said the Department of Justice, overseen by Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris, failed over 18 months to fully implement seven of eight recommendations auditors made in 2013 to reduce backlogs.
During the first quarter of 2015, the department had about 3,600 reports in a daily queue of persons potentially prohibited from owning guns, the audit said. The department's goal was to keep that number at no more than 600.
The Justice Department is supposed to cross-reference databases to find people who legally purchased guns before they became ineligible because of a severe mental illness or criminal history.
About two-thirds of those barred from firearm ownership are felons or have a violent history. One-third are in the system because of mental illness.
"The longer it takes Justice to review the records in its backlogs, the longer armed prohibited persons keep their firearms, which increases the risk to public safety," Howle wrote.
Howle said the department also has failed to ensure that mental hospitals and the courts are properly reporting all those who may be barred from owning guns.
In a written response, the Justice Department blamed the delays in part on loss of staff and the continued strong sales of firearms in California. The department said it has had to divert staff from the cross-referencing system to do criminal history checks on those buying firearms.
Since 2006, the department said, it has conducted nearly 11,000 investigations into illegal gun ownership and seized more than 12,000 firearms and nearly 1 million rounds of ammunition.
The auditor recommended that the Legislature require the Justice Department to complete an initial review of all cases in its daily queue within seven days.
The department agreed with the recommendation, saying it would work with the Legislature "on drafting language, identifying positions, funding and information technology enhancements needed to achieve this goal."
