Background check plan ineffective
Universal background checks on gun transfers would infringe on owners’ rights and would not reduce crime
A recent op-ed column by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America called on New Mexico lawmakers to pass universal gun background check legislation, making it seem that such legislation will eliminate future horrendous shootings. Law-abiding gun owners in New Mexico join the rest of the nation in sharing the outrage resulting from these appalling acts.
The nation does need to find a way to keep firearms out of the hands of those few who are responsible for America’s violent rampages. However, universal background checks will not solve the problem.
The proposed legislation is an intrusive and ineffective gun control proposal that targets law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to stop criminals.
Universal background check laws criminalize virtually all private firearms transfers, costing law-abiding gun owners time, money and freedom.
This latest gun control activity mirrors recent actions of New York billionaire and former mayor Michael Bloomberg in pushing his gun control agenda across the country; New Mexico is just the latest target.
Under his gun control laws, virtually every sale, purchase, trade, gift, rental or loan of a firearm must go through a licensed dealer.
For example, to loan a buddy a shotgun to go hunting for the weekend, both friends would have to go to a federally licensed dealer, undergo a background check, and pay a fee (in some states, there is no cap on how much that could be). To return the shotgun, both would have to go through the whole process again, including paying the fee.
This same scenario would occur if a man wanted to loan his girlfriend his pistol to defend herself from a stalker. Under universal background check laws, law-abiding citizens are turned into criminals or left defenseless.
Criminologists and economists alike have researched the effects of expanded background checks and found they do nothing to reduce violent crime.
Politifact said: “… Analysts urged caution in interpreting a correlation in lower rates of gun violence to private-sale background checks.”
Jacquelyn White, a psychology professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, offered similar advice.
Even law enforcement rejects the notion of such a proposal.
In 2013, nearly 80 percent of active and retired law enforcement surveyed by PoliceOne said that a ban on private gun transfers would not reduce violent crime.
This proposal will do precious little to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. A U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of prison inmates found that 77 percent acquired crime guns from illegal sources such as theft, black market and straw purchases. Only 0.8 percent came from gun shows. Interestingly, persons denied under the current background check system were not prosecuted under existing federal law. A 2012 report to the U.S. Department of Justice showed only 62 out of 70,000 felony cases were prosecuted in the year studied.
The topic of how to deter suicidal individuals from using firearms requires much more research and input from mental health specialists. At present there is virtually no information in the NICS database to reflect a buyer’s state of mind.
Gun control advocates are demanding an expansion of background checks instead of increased prosecutions for violations because this is part of their move towards the ultimate goal – firearm registration. A 2013 internal U.S. Department of Justice memo stated that the effectiveness of universal background checks depends on requiring gun registration.
Criminals won’t register their guns, and a universal background check law will never be enforceable without registration.
New Mexico’s crime problem is a result of a broken criminal justice system that keeps returning the same violent offenders to the streets to commit violent crimes repeatedly. As Election Day nears, please determine which candidates have solid proposals that target these criminals, rather than feel-good solutions that would only cost law-abiding citizens time, money and freedom.