It's not getting any easier to buy a firearm in Georgia, but fewer gun-seekers are turned away each year after undergoing mandatory background checks.

Nationally, the percentage of buyers refused a firearm has fallen each year from 1999 to 2003, the most recent year for which complete figures are available, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

In Georgia, the responsibility for performing "instant checks" was transferred July 30 from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to the FBI.

"It's a good process and better than before," said Maj. Ken Autry of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office, who underwent - and passed - a background check when he bought a gun recently for personal use.

Some retailers say customers who fail background checks often do so because of things in their history that might be incorrect - or that they are unaware of.

"With us, 95 percent of the time, the cause of the delay or rejection is something that shouldn't even be in their background," said Mike Benoit, the gun sales manager at American Sportsman in Martinez.

Under federal law, people with a restraining order against them, a history of mental illness, drug abuse, felony convictions or even a misdemeanor domestic offense can fail a background check.

"It could be identity theft issues, traffic violations that aren't cleared up - any number of things," Mr. Benoit said. "It's almost like a credit check. People can get things in their records that are not accurate that need to be cleaned up."

So why are fewer people failing the checks?

The Justice Department attributes the changes to an increased reluctance among people with criminal histories to attempt to purchase a firearm - knowing they would fail the widely publicized background checks.

Nationwide, rejections fell 7 percent - from 136,000 in 2002 to 126,000 in 2003, continuing the gradual decline that began in 1999, the Justice Department reported.

"Everybody has to do the check," Mr. Benoit said. "That's the law. The FBI is quite efficient, too."

The information potential buyers must provide includes a valid driver's license and completion of a form attesting that they are not convicted felons and have not been dishonorably discharged from the military, said Johnny Finley, the owner of United Loan & Firearms Inc., on Broad Street.

"If all the information checks out, we submit it to the FBI," he said. "If a customer is denied by the FBI, then that customer never leaves here with a gun. And it's up to the government to prosecute them for lying on that form."

The instant check process has been advocated "for years" by National Rifle Association members, like himself, Mr. Finley said.

"Instant checks also help gun dealers to stay honest. So we can know in advance if someone is worthy," he said.

In 1968, the federal Gun Control Act was enacted to regulate firearms traffic in the United States. When President Reagan was shot in March 1981, his press secretary, James Brady, was nearly killed and remains permanently disabled.

In 1993, the Gun Control Act was amended by the aptly named Brady law, which instituted a five-day waiting period for gun sales.

It gave state and local law enforcement officials a chance to perform checks on customers before a gun was sold.

The five-day waiting period provision of the Brady law expired in November 1998 and was replaced with a national instant-check system.

Currently, no federal law mandates a waiting period for purchasing guns from licensed dealers.

Several states, however, maintain their own waiting periods.

Rick Beard, the general manager of The Sportsman's Link on Bobby Jones Expressway, said gun purchases are on the rise and women comprise much of his customer base.

No matter the gender, Mr. Beard said, he and his employees are sticklers when it comes to maintaining and ensuring federal policies and procedures are followed to a T.

"We take pictures of driver's licenses and secure Social Security numbers - everything is tied to that number. If you're denied, you'll be contacted by the local police agency. If they're looking for you, they won't tell me anything. They'll come and arrest you," he said.

"Most people we deal with are innocent. And, most people know if they've been good or bad."

John Bankhead, a GBI spokesman, said his agency transferred the firearms check program to the feds in the summer because of budgetary concerns, adding that it cost the GBI about $400,000 annually to run the program.

"No system is perfect, but we shouldn't make it easy for felons to purchase guns," Mr. Bankhead said.

Reach Timothy Cox at (706) 823-3217 or tim.cox@augustachronicle.com.