Originally Posted by
hakujinbakasama
It is both state and federal. Depending on your state you may be required to wait a "cooling off" period before being able to actually take any weapon home. This does however again change from state to state. In Illinois where I am, there is a waiting period for shotguns and riffles of 24 hours I believe, while a handgun is a waiting period of 72 hours.
Now, the thing that most people do not talk about is that ever state runs a federal background check to verify that the purchaser is not a convicted felon. The "issue" to some is that this isn't a lengthy process, but I don't see how or why it should be. They check the national database with your information, if it comes back clean your are on your way to continue the process, whatever follows in your state.
The common debate is Mental Health and one that sounds great on paper but is far more complicated than people perceive. There is currently no check in any state that I'm aware of which does a mental health evaluation or background check. Medical records are federally protected in the US and as of yet, other than a FFL (dealer) having seller discretion, there is nothing (again that I'm aware of) preventing someone with mental history. This provides a very complex problem because there is no system in place nor is there one which could probably be funded to do so. Furthermore, it's a fine line, for Americans at least, to except the idea that such a program because at some point it would be considered a potential tool to deny people their right at the whim of the government.