Retailers Can Use NICS E-Checks Last Thursday Bullet Points passed along FBI/NICS information to firearms retailers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who were unable to process National Instant Criminal Background Checks using the usual phone numbers because of Hurricane Katrina-caused outages. Alternate phone number 304-625-0259 will connect retailers to the FBI NICS Customer Service Center, where firearm background checks can be requested. If a dealer in those states is without phone service but has Internet access, the dealer can contact NICS via the Internet to sign up for the NICS E-Check system, allowing retailers to process NICS checks over the Internet. "We could issue them a digital certificate and once downloaded to their PC the dealer could start processing NICS checks immediately," said Giget Stover, NICS FFL liaison program analyst. NICS E-Check allows FFLs to conduct NICS background checks 24 hours per day, seven days per week. It provides a quick and accurate method of doing status checks without using a telephone, prints out the final status of a check and allows for the review of transaction history for up to 90 days on all transactions not subject to the 24-hour purge regulations.