Evidence that Pennsylvania’s gun background checks work
You may have seen the headlines last week about Pennsylvania’s record-setting gun sales.
The first quarter of this year was the third consecutive quarter that a new high was established for the number of background checks run through state police — 427,450.
That doesn’t capture every gun purchase in the state and also includes checks for concealed carry permits. But it’s the best indicator of the demand.
While that figure was eye-opening, so was another: 1,325 people are under investigation for trying to illegally buy a firearm because they are prohibited from owning one, according to state police.
It shows the background check system works.
That’s why background checks should be expanded to all firearms purchases in Pennsylvania and nationwide.
Last Thursday, President Joe Biden called on Congress to close loopholes in the background check system — which is a patchwork of state laws, some better than others.
He also issued executive orders to try to slow what he described as
“an epidemic” and “an international embarrassment.”
“The idea that we have so many people dying every single day from gun violence in America is a blemish on our character as a nation,” Biden said.
He directed the Department of Justice to come up with a plan to regulate homemade guns, known as ghost guns. And he called for the department to create a template for states to follow to pass “red-flag” laws that would allow guns to be temporarily taken from people who have shown they are a danger to themselves or others.
Second Amendment worshipers
continue to show their hypocrisy by fighting all such plans, while also claiming to support law-abiding gun ownership.
If background checks are stopping felons, domestic abusers and mentally ill people who aren’t permitted to own guns, what’s the harm? Law-abiding gun owners wouldn’t be hurt.
And why shouldn’t someone have to pass a background check to buy parts to build a gun? If you are prohibited from buying one, shouldn’t you also be prohibited from accumulating the parts to build one?
The background check system is not perfect. But that’s why there is an appeals process.
Of the 15,373 purchases, concealed carry permits and other checks that were denied in Pennsylvania in 2019, 1,633 of them were reversed on appeal. That’s about 10%. The state should work to reduce that ratio.
There’s no reason to shelve universal background checks just because some purchases are wrongly blocked. Pennsylvania’s
system stopped a convicted murderer from buying a gun several years ago, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
No, universal background checks will not stop the carnage occurring daily on the streets. The guns used by drug dealers, thieves and gang members aren’t obtained at a store. They’re bought illegally in basements and alleys.
But the state police data show that some people who are prohibited from owning guns are trying to buy them legally. That has to be stopped. If that prevents even a few shootings, it’s worth it.
The current patchwork of background check laws leaves too many holes.
A few years ago, I wrote about an undercover investigation of online firearms sales in states that don’t require background checks on such sales.
The Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund advertised guns for sale. One of every nine people who tried to purchase one was legally prohibited from buying or owning a firearm, it found.
In Pennsylvania, private sales of rifles and other long guns are not subject to background checks.
Pennsylvania has been one of the tougher states at investigating illegal purchase attempts, according to the report by the GAO in 2018.
In 2019, the most recent year for which annual data is available, 737 people were convicted of offenses related to attempts to illegally buy a gun, according to state police. From 1999 to 2019, 4,907 were convicted.
Not every case that is investigated results in charges. Some are not prosecuted, often because authorities don’t believe they can prove that the buyer knew they were prohibited from possessing a firearm or intentionally lied on their purchase form.
But at least they were stopped from buying one.