During 2017, the federal government conducted 8.6 million firearm background checks resulting in over 112,000 denials, prosecuted 12 people based on these denials, and obtained 8 guilty pleas, or less than 0.01% of the denials. Per the U.S. Justice Department, the "vast majority" of denials are for people who are not "a danger to the public because the prohibiting factors are often minor or based on incidents that occurred many years in the past." States may prosecute cases that the federal government does not. In 2010, Pennsylvania convicted more than 100 individuals for state law violations arising out of firearm background check denials.