How tough is it to pass a background check to purchase a gun in the United States? If you look at the numbers, not very.
During the past 10 years, the U.S. government, using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, has denied about 700,000 applications from potential gun purchasers. Considering the NICS has processed more than 100 million applications, that’s fewer than 1 percent of those applying who have been denied.
1. Credit Cards: You are more likely to be turned down for a credit card than you are to fail a background check to purchase a gun. Seven times more likely, in fact.
2. Marriage: If you ask for a woman's hand in marriage, chances are you'll be rejected about 25 percent of the time – at least on the first try – according to a survey of American women.
3. Citizenship: In 2012, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied 65,874 naturalization petitions.
4. Military service: United States military enlistment recruiters reject nearly 80 percent of all applicants for the service.
5. A desk at Harvard: Ninety-four percent of the more than 35,000 applicants to Harvard for the Class of 2017 were told they didn't get in.
6. A promotion: In a recent Gallup poll, 15 percent of American women said that they have been denied a promotion at work because of their gender. Thirteen percent reported having been denied a raise for the same reason.
7. Parole in Texas: Sixty-three percent of eligible inmates in Texas prisons were denied parole in 2012.
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