Background checks may be ground zero for gun control

[Glocktogo]

http://news.yahoo.com/background-checks-may-ground-zero-gun-control-162051602.html

An expanded background check system may be the one major gun control measure with a chance of passing through Congress, but its fate seems tenuous at best.
Since the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have pressed for expanded gun violence measures in several areas: assault weapons, high-capacity ammunition clips, expanded background checks, and expanded mental health programs.
It’s unlikely that there is enough support currently in Congress to pass legislation to ban assault weapons and high-capacity gun clips.
President Obama has issued a series of executive orders to address the problem of the mentally ill having access to guns. In Congress, some senators have proposed broader laws to devote more resources to mental health issues, while states are addressing the mental health problem in different ways. The sequester may affect the delivery of some mental health-related services.
It was the high-profile issue of expanded background checks for gun measures that appeared to have the most public support and traction in the Senate, which is taking the first pass at writing a law.
Last month, Constitution Daily looked at polling questions on guns from nine different sources, including Fox News, NBC, ABC, Pew Research, and Gallup. On average, 89 percent of those people polled wanted expanded background checks.
Support also seemed strong in the Senate, where four leading members were working toward a consensus bill on background checks.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer, Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois were concentrating on closing the “gun show loophole,” a provision that doesn’t require background checks for sales at private events.
But last week, Coburn said that progress was stalled over whether people who sell guns directly to others should be required to keep records of the sale, in the same way that licensed dealers handle a transaction.
Coburn said that was a dealbreaker for an expanded background check law.
Some Democrats believe keeping records of private sales is needed because current federal law requires licensed gun dealers to keep similar records.
Vice President Biden has also questioned the logic of having a universal background check law that didn’t require transaction records for private sales.
“They want the law to say no record would be kept,” Biden told the National Association of Attorneys General. “How in the hell would you know if that transaction would be real if no record can be kept?”
Later in the week, Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he would oppose expanded background checks.
The National Rifle Association also is on record opposing expanding background checks.
“My problem with background checks is you’re never going to get criminals to go through universal background checks,” said Wayne LaPierre, CEO for the NRA, told a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in January. “None of it makes any sense in the real world.”
The NRA and Goodlatte are opposed to a record-keeping requirement for private gun sales because they believe it will lead to a national gun registry. Democrats counter that a national gun registry is illegal and that their efforts are in good faith to make sure background checks are enforced better.
For now, the Senate will likely consider separate bills on the assault weapon, ammunition clip, and expanded background check issues. Among the three, universal background checks appear to have the best chance of getting a close vote in the Senate. But some compromise solution will most likely be needed to have a chance in the House.

My comments: Let me ask you this. Why are AR-15's "patrol rifles" when cops have them and "Personal Defense Weapons" when DHS/ICE have them, but in the hands of an honest, law abiding citizen, suddenly they're "ASSAULT WEAPONS"!

I'll tell you what an assault weapon is, the propaganda that the Progressive politicians and the liberal media bombard us with on a daily basis. I feel downright MOLESTED!

“They want the law to say no record would be kept,” Biden told the National Association of Attorneys General. “How in the hell would you know if that transaction would be real if no record can be kept?” (WTF does that even mean???)

If your system for private sales UBC's is intended to keep criminals and the mentally incompetent from getting guns in the first place, THEN WHY DO YOU NEED POST APPROVAL RECORDS? Simple, they want registration, which has led to confiscation the world over. They just wait for another completely unpreventable tragedy and say "Do it for the children!".

NO SALE MR, VICE PRESIDENT! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!

 

[rawhide]

Why does a firearm purchase through a FFL even require listing the specific firearm? Why not just a back ground check? You are not a felon or mentally ill or you are. What difference does it make what gun you are buying? Record of the gun is the only logical reason I can think of.
(Not to imply that I support UBC. Just saying.)

 

[AKguy1985]

As of right now all they say when an FFL calls in a 4473 is hand gun or long gun. Thats it.

 

[abajaj11]

The key is: if ALL firearms sales MUST go through a background check, then the ONLY way to effectively monitor that law is being followed is to know that the transaction took place at all....and the only way to know for sure that a transaction took place is to know who owns what.
That is what crazy uncle Joe is saying...and that is why the anti 2As like him so desperately want a UBC, because a few months down the road they will ask the Executive branch to institute policy directives and executive orders that will create databases of who owns what....
Of course they won't call it "registration", instead some politically correct name like" Gun safety ownership list, or something like that. But it will be registration. and it WILL lead to the disarmament of America.

 

[doctorjj]

As of right now all they say when an FFL calls in a 4473 is hand gun or long gun. Thats it.

Yes, but they write gun serial number on your form. The Fed's can track it from manufacturer to dealer to you with the system currently in place.

 

[Glocktogo]

They want the capability to do BATFE traces on firearms used in crimes, but it won't work. As it is now, ATF goes back to the manufacturer or importer to find out which distributor/FFL the gun went to, then they go to the FFL and have them pull the 4473 and track ownership as far as they can.

The problem is, when they trace a firearm that's already been in citizen hands, the only way they'll be able to trace it back to the last point of sale is if THEY keep records on the NICS check. Otherwise a gun could be sold by an FFL, transferred several times before the UBC, then transferred again by the same FFL between two citizens and they'd never know it went through that dealer again.

So I'll say it again, either they abandon Trace data after the 1st FFL sale, or THEY register all firearms transactions in a federal database. THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT!

That's why I'm so pissed at Coburn for working with them at all.

 

[Dale00]

Our representatives are out of touch. With the best of intentions, perhaps, but still out of touch. It may be a matter of wanting to do good. Or it may be a matter of political maneuvering and advantage seeking. Or a mixture of both. In either case Sen Coburn shows a lack of understanding or respect for the founding principle that individual rights are paramount.

 

[twoguns?]

Our representatives are out of touch. With the best of intentions, perhaps, but still out of touch. It may be a matter of wanting to do good. Or it may be a matter of political maneuvering and advantage seeking. Or a mixture of both. In either case Sen Coburn shows a lack of understanding or respect for the founding principle that individual rights are paramount.

But Why? are they so out of touch.
The polit manure , well they can just Stop that Crap.
Hey, lets vote them ALL out of office and start over...

 

[kriket1911]

All the people that keep saying "it will only effect the mentally ill and the criminals so i don't mind" need to think. Because one day your name might end up on that list.if you take an anti depressant,or any type of med for stress or other mental health disorders even if you are not prone to violence or erratic behavior,you will be a prohibited person sooner or later.first it was the felons,now the seriously mentally disturbed,and soon it will be anyone with a mental disorder,anyone who go's to a shink,and anyone with a misdemeanor. It will happen one at a time,because people keep saying well i dont fall in that category so it wont effect me so im fine with it.

 

[BikerHT]

JB,

I share your sentiment and anger towards all those ignorant, traitorous, mindless idiots we currently have in govt leadership positions - from the potus on down.