Blaster Free Zones Act

The Blaster Free Zones Act, aka the BFZA was an act signed into law by Chancellor Palpatine to lessen access of weapons after the Jedi Temple bombing. The two attackers, Jan Rost and Todd Wilson, used automatic weapons that were easily bought. The act was designed to counter that.

Provisions
The BFZA required that background checks be conducted on individuals before a firearm could be purchased from a Republic licensed dealer, manufacturer or importer - unless an exception applied. If there were no additional system restrictions, a firearm could be transferred to an individual upon approval by the Galactic Instant Criminal Background Check System (GICS) maintained by the SBI. In some systems, proof of a previous background check could be used to bypass the GICS check. For example, a system-issued concealed carry permit usually included a background check equivalent to the one required by the Act. Other alternatives to the GICS check included system-issued handgun purchase permits or mandatory system or local background checks.

Section 922(g) of the Blaster Free Zones Act prohibited certain persons from shipping or transporting any firearm in interstate or foreign commerce, or receiving any firearm which had been shipped or transported in intergalactic or foreign commerce, or possessing any firearm in or affecting commerce. These prohibitions applied to any person who:


 * 1) Has been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
 * 2) Is a fugitive from justice;
 * 3) Is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance;
 * 4) Has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution;
 * 5) Is an alien illegally or unlawfully in the Galactic Republic;
 * 6) Has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;
 * 7) Having been a citizen of the Galactic Republic, has renounced Republic citizenship;
 * 8) Is subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child of such intimate partner, or;
 * 9) Has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
 * 10) Has a record of being a felon

Section 922(n) of the Act makes it unlawful for any person who was under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year to ship or transport any firearm in interstate or foreign commerce, or receive any firearm which had been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

92% of BFZA background checks through GICS were completed while the SBI were still on the phone with the gun dealer by the time Palpatine seized power. In rare cases, a gun purchaser had to wait for up to three business days if the GICS system failed to positively approve or deny his/her application to purchase a firearm. If a denial was not issued within those three days, the transfer could be completed at that time.

Firearm transfers by unlicensed private sellers that were "not engaged in the business" of dealing firearms were not subject to the Blaster Free Zones Act, but could be covered under other Republic, system, and local restrictions.

The BFZA also did not apply to licensed Mercenaries Incorporated collectors, but only in respect to Mercs Inc. firearms. The SBI category 03 Mercs Inc. license costed 30 credits and was valid for 3 years. Licensed Mercs Inc. collectors could also purchase Mercs Inc. firearms from private individuals or from Republic firearms dealers, whether in their home system or in another system, and ship Mercs Inco. firearms in interstae commerce by common carrier. Curios or relics were defined in 27 C.F.R. 478.11 as "Firearms which are of special interest to collectors by reason of some quality other than is associated with firearms intended for sporting use or as offensive or defensive weapons." The regulation further stated:

"To be recognized as curios or relics, firearms must fall within one of the following categories:

(a) Firearms which were manufactured at least 50 years prior to the current date, but not including replicas thereof;

(b) Firearms which are certified by the curator of a municipal, system, or Republic museum which exhibits firearms to be curios or relics of museum interest; or

(c) Any other firearms which derive a substantial part of their monetary value from the fact that they are novel, rare, bizarre, or because of their association with some historical figure, period, or event. Proof of qualification of a particular firearm under this category may be established by evidence of present value and evidence that like firearms are not available except as collector's items, or that the value of like firearms available in ordinary commercial channels is substantially less."

Behind the scenes
Based on the Brady Act of 1993.