Why It Matters
Gun dealers and other federally licensed firearms businesses will be able to run FBI criminal background checks on employees who handle weapons, under a Justice Department final rule that takes effect November 27.
The Justice Department's final rule authorizes Federal Firearm Licensees (FFLs) to use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to voluntarily conduct employment background checks on certain current or prospective employees, effective November 27.
The Justice Department's final rule, issued under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 (BSCA), amends its regulations to let Federal Firearm Licensees use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for voluntary employment background checks on certain current or prospective employees.
The Big Picture
The rule amends FBI regulations governing NICS to let FFLs voluntarily conduct what the rule calls "firearm handler background checks" on current or prospective employees who are eligible under the new criteria. The check is voluntary: no FFL is required to screen employees through the system. But starting November 27, those who want to vet workers who handle firearms have a formal, NICS-based mechanism to do so for the first time.
That distinction matters for dealers, manufacturers, and importers deciding whether to build employment screening into their hiring process. Before the BSCA provision and this implementing rule, any such screening had to rely on non-NICS methods. The rule gives FFLs a standardized federal channel, which may simplify compliance recordkeeping and provide a documented basis for employment decisions involving access to firearms.
The Bottom Line
The rule covers current and prospective employees who are eligible under the criteria the Justice Department has now codified. The Justice Department's final rule, titled "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022–Criteria for National Instant Criminal Background Check System ('NICS') Background Checks of Firearm Handlers," amends the department's NICS regulations to let Federal Firearm Licensees conduct voluntary employment background checks on certain current or prospective employees.
Because the check is voluntary, FFLs that do not wish to use it face no new obligation. Those that do use it will be running a NICS query in a context the system previously did not permit, and should ensure their processes align with the amended regulations before the rule's effective date.
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