A new federal law regulating firearms sales may be causing headaches for some store owners.

After the new law went into effect Tuesday, gun dealers nationwide are now required to phone into an FBI database, which scans a purchaser’s background information and searches for criminal records.

This process should last no more than five minutes.

However, Paul Jacobson, owner of Jacobson’s Gun Center in Story City, said the computer system crashed on its first day of use.

Jacobson said he feels the problems with the system and the law in general have discouraged some of his customers.

“People are reluctant to put themselves through the irritation of having to deal with it,” he said.

Other problems also have arisen for shop owners trying to comply with the new regulations.

Paul Lindahl, owner of Lindy’s Guns in Boone, said he is unable to sell any guns because his store has not yet received identification forms from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

ATF was supposed to send out the forms early so stores would receive them by Nov.16.

When he did not receive any forms, Jacobson said he reordered them Nov. 20 and received them Tuesday.

Under the new law, these identification forms are to be filled out for the purchase of rifles and shotguns. Iowa’s previous law did not require background checks for purchase of those firearms.

Lindahl said the new law is a good idea but hurts those who make firearm purchases for hunting.

Jacobson said he feels the law is not a bad idea, but “it is based on the false premise that criminals buy guns through gun shops. They get them illegally.”

Both shop owners said if people really want firearms, they will get them through “other means.”

Some students think these background checks for hunting equipment are an intrusion into their private lives.

Adam Falconer, junior in management information systems, said the law is an unnecessary inconvenience.

Other students said the law is necessary and helps protect innocent people from firearm violence.

“For anyone purchasing a gun, waiting five minutes should be no problem,” said Chance Chesnut, sophomore in pre-landscape architecture. “It’s not that big of a hassle.”