(CNN) - The FBI issued more than 4,000 requests to the ATF last year for agents to take back guns from people who bought guns but ultimately failed background checks.
In an extensive review of records, USA Today found retrieval requests hit a 10-year-high in 2016.
The FBI requested nearly 4,200 gun purchases to the ATF last year for seizure, compared to nearly 2,900 the year before. The FBI’s national instant criminal background check system processed a record 27.5 million background checks last year.
Agents must complete the checks within 72 hours of the proposed gun purchase. If the check is not finished within that period, federal law lets the gun sale go ahead.
ATF agents are asked to take the guns back if the FBI later determines the sales should have been denied.
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