The state’s database of DNA profiles reached nearly half a million entries by the end of 2019, and the number of firearm purchase denials rose compared to the year prior, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation reports.

These findings were part of the CBI’s 2019 annual report, which the agency released in April. CBI, which has a $39.4 million budget, spent half of it on laboratory and investigative services, with the identification and records unit consuming another quarter of the total.

The DNA defender database held 499,170 profiles through the end of 2019. Per state law, the CBI collects samples from adults convicted of felonies or of misdemeanors that have a sexual element, juveniles, and any adult arrested for a felony. However, the state had fewer matches to offender DNA profiles than in 2018, with 266 matches for sex crimes and 477 for property crimes last year compared with 285 and 703, respectively, for 2018.

CBI’s InstaCheck Unit is responsible for conducting background checks for gun purchases at federally-licensed dealers. Approved background checks decreased by 1.6% in 2019, while denials rose 12.5%. In total, there were 335,370 approvals for firearm purchases, with an average wait time of six minutes for customers.

The number of firearm background checks in Colorado has declined each year since 2016. However, through April 2020 the number of background checks was roughly 47% of the previous year’s total, a result of mass gun purchases from people fearful of the COVID-19 pandemic and the initial wave of public health restrictions.

Another change from the previous year eliminated fee-based toxicology testing that required law enforcement agencies to request specific types of tests from CBI. The legislature used marijuana tax money to eliminate the fees, resulting in standardized analyses and a 147% increase in monthly tests.