Serious LACK of "Common Sense" and "Reason" in S.374, the "Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013"
March 14, 2013
There's some serious LACK of "common sense" and "reason" in S.374, the "Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013". Read my summary and some real world examples to see what they are.
There's also more misleading of the American public. A major heading in this bill is entitled "TITLE II—REQUIRING A BACK-GROUND CHECK FOR EVERY FIREARM SALE". They'd like everyone to believe that - that this is about firearms "sales" and about closing the so-called "gun show loophole". (Oddly, gun shows are not mentioned in the bill.) In fact, it's about MUCH MORE than "sales". It's about every "transfer" of a firearm and "transfer" is VERY loosely applied. It could require SEVERAL background checks to be performed in the lifecycle of a firearm even if it stays with a single owner for its entire life. Read on.
I almost didn't read this article. (I get tired of keeping up with this stuff too.) But I'm glad I did. I've read references to the "universal background check" legislation proposal, but I hadn't read the federal proposal myself yet, only my state's. I started with this article and then followed the link to the actual Senate S.374 bill. Both are linked below.
The article's author is clearly biased against this proposal. Although I am admittedly biased, I try to screen out obvious bias when I'm reading these materials. Upon reading the bill, I found that the points made in the article are valid and that this bill is essentially everything otherwise law abiding firearms owners fear it will be. It doesn't go as far as gun registration, which is illegal at the federal level, but it does require that gun owners keep records of all their firearms transfers, among other things. The meat of the proposal affecting citizens begins on page 11 of the 16-page bill. Here are a few highlights. All of these are in the context of a background check. If I write you "cannot" that is to say "you cannot without a background check".
* Transfers between designated family members and estate transfers are okay. (Good.) The specific family relationships are identified. It does NOT allow for transfers between uncle/aunt and nephew/niece; cousins; or any further extensions.
* You can transfer a firearm to your spouse without a background check, but not your x-spouse, fiance or non-married significant other. (I hadn't considered until this moment how that negatively impacts same-sex couples in states that still do not allow their marriage and federally in the "defense of marriage act" world we live in.)
* You can transfer (lend) a firearm to a friend as long as the firearm is only possessed by them within the confines of a designated shooting range or certain "conservation" lands. Essentially, they must be in your presence. You cannot lend the same firearm to the same person to carry to a range themselves if you're not there. If there's other land where it's currently legal to shoot that is not designated for "conservation purposes", you can't lend them your firearm there, including privately held land.
* You can lend a firearm at a shooting competition "under the auspices of or approved by a State agency or nonprofit organization" but not a shooting competition that is otherwise sponsored and, again, they can only possess the firearm while at that competition - not to or from.
* There are provisions for hunting that I won't go into detail about. (Good.)
* If leaving your residence for a period of time, you can leave your firearms in the possession of your non-family roommate or non-married, cohabitating significant other for a period of 6 days without a background check. If your trip is planned for or extends to a 7th day, you become a criminal. They may not remove the firearms from the home while in possession of them. Is this common sense? Is there a magic threshold between the 6th and 7th day that makes someone more of a risk after the 6th day?
* There will be fees collected for background checks.
* All stolen firearms must be reported within 24 hours or you are a criminal.
There is NO provision in this bill for:
* How firearms are stored. Therefore even if they're stored in a safe, inaccessible to a roommate or friend, you could still be charged with a crime for leaving your firearms in their possession for more than 6 days. You can, however, leave your firearms with them for up to 6 days without any locking mechanism at all.
* Whether the person you intend to temporarily "transfer" a firearm to already has firearms of their own.
* People who have already had background checks performed on them in the past in the form of law enforcement officers or concealed carry licensees.
So, you cannot lend a firearm to a friend as you would any other property; and if you live with someone and they are not your spouse or an immediate family member, you cannot take a 7+ day vacation or work assignment without getting and paying for a background check.
I have a friend who recently went to a shooting range with his friend. My friend's wife lent her pistol to the family friend. Under this bill, she would be a criminal because she, the owner of the firearm, did not accompany the family friend to the range and didn't get (and pay for) a background check.
I have another friend who is considering a long-term work assignment outside his current state. Because of all the gun control frenzy, he has to consider whether to leave his firearms in the possession of a friend while he's away. He has no desire to give up (sell) his firearms. Under this bill, if he stored them with a friend while he was away without getting (and paying for) a background check, he'd be a criminal.
Some people store firearms at 2nd homes. Some may be travelling when their firearms are stolen from their primary homes. There is no provision in this bill for reporting stolen firearms within 24 hours of "discovery" of them being stolen. You could be charged with a crime because you don't know when someone else committed a crime against you OR simply because you were too busy and didn't prioritize their paperwork over the rest of your life within their designated time frame. Is it a crime to not report that you've been robbed of anything but firearms within 24 hours? For not reporting assault or rape within 24 hours? Don't some police departments prevent people from reporting a missing person until a waiting period passes - a missing person who may have been abducted?
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113s374rs/pdf/BILLS-113s374rs.pdf
http://reason.com/blog/2013/03/14/schumers-background-check-bill-criminali
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