Pennsylvania Firearm Background Check System Sees Record Volume In Fourth Quarter 2020

By: KDKA-TV News Staff

HARRISBURG (KDKA) - The Pennsylvania State Police announced that the fourth quarter of 2020 was the busiest in the history of their firearm background check system, the Pennsylvania Instant Check System.

This was the second straight record-setting quarter, beating the record set in the third quarter of 2020.

According to state police, 420,581 checks were conducted between October 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020.

Of those 420,581 checks, 7,458 persons were denied and 1,317 were referred to law enforcement agencies.

"Our department is proud of PICS and the men and women behind the system who worked hard to meet record-setting demand throughout 2020," said Captain Mark Shaver, assistant director of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Records and Identification. "For the year, we saw a 47 percent increase in PICS requests from 2019, and the team stepped up to answer the call during a global pandemic."

The full statistics for the fourth quarter in 2020 can be found on the Pennsylvania State Police's website.