Police follow gun background checks in Pennsylvania

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, says the rest of the nation needs the kind of oversight on failed background checks on gun buyers Pennsylvania has had for more than two decades.

Toomey is co-sponsoring a bill that would require the FBI to notify state and local police across the country anytime a would-be gun buyer fails a background check.

The Pennsylvania State Police, which conducts instant background checks for firearms purchases through licensed dealers here, began doing that in the mid 1990s. Nationally, about 13 states take that step.

Here is a look at the 2017 background checks the Pennsylvania State Police reported:

1,055,451

Number of instant background checks

15,031

Number denied

146

People arrested on fugitive warrants after denial

3,405

Cases referred to local police for investigation

2,059

Cases referred to state police for investigation

1

Cases referred to ATF for investigation

842

Arrests made after those investigations