Officials with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation plan to ask state lawmakers for $500,000 to help process a backlog of background checks for gun buyers.
CBI Spokeswoman Susan Medina told the Denver Post, the money would go toward staff salaries and technology.
The CBI staff is working 18 hours a day, seven days a week processing the applications and says the only reason it's not 24 hours a day is that a federal database used in the checks shuts down for six hours a day.
The agency has been swamped with applications for gun permits since theelementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn this month. Currently, there is a backlog of more than 11,000 applications.
In November, Coloradans wanting to purchase a gun had to wait an average of 23 minutes to get the criminal-background check. The wait time is now closer to a week.
Currently, gun buyers are not required to pay for the background checks.
In 2011, CBI performed 251,307 background checks, denying 5,832 would-be purchasers from buying a gun.
