ltorlo64
03-21-2013, 07:43 PM
So now the Congress is pushing for “Universal Background Checks” as a means of getting what they can in area of gun control. The impetus for this push is the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. This shooting is a tragedy that is almost too much to think about, but with Congress pushing to “do something”, we need to, at least a little.
The biggest question we need to ask ourselves is if a law requiring background checks for all firearm purchases would have done anything to prevent this tragedy, or any of the recent shootings. The answer is no. In the last three shootings, Sandy Hook, Clackamas Town Center, and the shooting of the firefighters in New York, all firearms used were obtained either through theft or by using someone who could pass a background check (straw purchase). In fact, if you look at the shootings that have happened, in very, very few cases would a background check have prevented the criminal from getting the guns they wanted.
Now the question becomes, if universal background checks would not have had any effect on whether these acts happened or not, why is Congress pushing these controls. I believe there are two main reasons for this;
1. Gun registration. You may wonder how I can equate a background check with registration. When you buy a gun from a gun store and they do a background check, the background check is documented on a Firearms Transaction Record, Form 4473. The dealer is required to keep these forms for 20 years after the sale. While it is illegal for the government to collect these forms now, it would only take a law change to require them to be turned in. This is why I equate this to gun registration.
2. Taxing private sales. Currently there is no tax paid on private sales, as there is no tax paid on kind of private sale. Well, that is except for cars. The private sale of automobiles is taxed because the sale must be reported to the state to get the vehicle licensed.
It is up to us to contact our Congress people and tell them to resist the impulse to “do something”, especially when the something they are proposing would not have stopped the act they claim to be trying to prevent.
The biggest question we need to ask ourselves is if a law requiring background checks for all firearm purchases would have done anything to prevent this tragedy, or any of the recent shootings. The answer is no. In the last three shootings, Sandy Hook, Clackamas Town Center, and the shooting of the firefighters in New York, all firearms used were obtained either through theft or by using someone who could pass a background check (straw purchase). In fact, if you look at the shootings that have happened, in very, very few cases would a background check have prevented the criminal from getting the guns they wanted.
Now the question becomes, if universal background checks would not have had any effect on whether these acts happened or not, why is Congress pushing these controls. I believe there are two main reasons for this;
1. Gun registration. You may wonder how I can equate a background check with registration. When you buy a gun from a gun store and they do a background check, the background check is documented on a Firearms Transaction Record, Form 4473. The dealer is required to keep these forms for 20 years after the sale. While it is illegal for the government to collect these forms now, it would only take a law change to require them to be turned in. This is why I equate this to gun registration.
2. Taxing private sales. Currently there is no tax paid on private sales, as there is no tax paid on kind of private sale. Well, that is except for cars. The private sale of automobiles is taxed because the sale must be reported to the state to get the vehicle licensed.
It is up to us to contact our Congress people and tell them to resist the impulse to “do something”, especially when the something they are proposing would not have stopped the act they claim to be trying to prevent.