In the United States of America, with the Second Amendment protecting our natural right to keep and bear arms, one would think that computer difficulties wouldn’t stop gun sales in an entire state for nearly two weeks.

Alas, one would be wrong.

Since November 1, nobody has been able to legally purchase a firearm in Washington State because of a computer system in the state’s Secure Automated Firearms E-Check (SAFE) system being “compromised.” That’s the program through which Washington conducts its background checks, instead of just going through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check (NICS) system.

When employees realized the system had been “compromised” on November 1 (they won’t say what that means), rather than figuring out how to fix it or putting some standby system into place, they immediately shut it down, making it impossible for gun dealers to run background checks for purchases. Since private sales are outlawed in the state, that effectively shut down all legal gun buying and selling.

In a Seattle Times report, Wendy Ferrell, associate director for the state Administrative Office of the Courts, said she couldn’t reveal the cause of the “compromise” because of “security reasons.”

“In an abundance of caution, we proactively took down our systems to secure them and are working around the clock with leading experts to restore services as quickly as possible,” Ferrell told the Times. 

At that time, officials expected the outage to last “at least a week.” However, 12 days later, the system is still offline.

And officials don’t seem to be in much of a hurry to get it back up and running, based on a letter sent to gun dealers last week by Kevin L. Baird,  assistant commander of the State Patrol’s Firearms Background Division.

“What this means to you:  We are effectively on hold with any checks submitted from November 1, 2024, onward until AOC brings their systems back online,” Baird wrote. “Once that happens, the backlog of checks will process through as normal. But, until that time, we cannot make any determinations on any checks. We are currently working through as many pre-November 1 checks as possible, but even those are likely to be delayed due to another AOC system that we check also being down. We will do our best to get as many checks completed before their 10-business day wait period is met (to prevent unnecessary delays to your customers), but there may be some that we are not able to proceed/deny for a few days afterwards.”

That letter prompted leaders of the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the firearm industry trade association, to encourage Washington officials involved with the fiasco to quickly find a remedy. In a letter sent on November 12, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane asked state officials to quickly change to the NICS system, at least for now.

“ICS operates effectively nationwide, ensuring accurate background check verifications and accommodating safe and responsible firearm transactions,” Keane wrote. “Until the SAFE system is restored, we believe the NICS program is a sufficient alternative to maintain both security and access.”

Keane followed that statement with a warning to Washington officials that a prolonged delay in gun sales would not be tolerated by the organization.

“Please be aware that the inability to conduct lawful transactions may lead to further action, as we seek to protect the rights of our members and their customers,” Keane wrote. “We urge a swift resolution to these technical issues and stand ready to explore additional measures that should be taken to ensure Washingtonians are not unduly burdened in the future.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has also vowed legal action if the situation isn’t remedied promptly.

“This is simply unacceptable, and we will not tolerate it,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Washington State citizens have had their rights under the federal and state constitutions suspended, and we will take legal action if this isn’t solved immediately.”