Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice inspector general is auditing how the FBI ensures states correctly use its background check system for gun purchases after an 18-year-old Florida woman bought a shotgun in Colorado and caused a manhunt that closed hundreds of schools.
The audit of the FBI’s oversight of its National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS, was requested last year by U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, and four other Colorado representatives after Sol Pais was allowed to buy the gun shortly after arriving in Colorado, a news release by Neguse’s office said.
The audit hopefully will prevent a similar incident from happening again, the news release said.
Pais’s flight to Colorado led to a statewide manhunt after FBI officials said Pais was infatuated with the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. The concerns over the teen’s intentions caused hundreds of schools along the Front Range to close. The Clear Creek County coroner later determined Pais had died by suicide on Mount Evans on the same day she arrived in Colorado and purchased the shotgun.