April 10, 2013
There'll be a lot more news coverage about background checks in the next few weeks. A bipartisan team of senators has just released proposed legislation for it. I haven't seen the text of the new proposal yet. I did read a previous version for so-called "universal" background checks and it went WAY too far - basically making it illegal to loan your firearm to a friend or for leaving your firearms with a non-relative roommate while you were on a 7+ day vacation without getting (and paying for) a background check. This latest proposal may back off the "universal" part somewhat. That remains to be seen but I've seen a change in rhetoric recently. (Typical of the gun control advocates - when facts or rhetoric don't work for you, simply change them and fight on.)
I've never seen this "Debate Club" before. Here's an interesting 'debate' about background checks. It provides a short article and then 5 opinions, in addition to readers' comments. The website provides an opportunity for readers to "vote" (up or down) on the 5 opinions. So far the votes are overwhelmingly OPPOSED to background checks. Vote and make your voice heard.
Here's a quote from one of the opinions that caught my attention. Where have I heard this before? Oh, yeah, I've made these points myself. We don't need to EXPAND a broken system. We need to FIX the broken system. Once it's working we can reasonably discuss expanding its use. (I haven't read the mentioned proposal.) Why haven't the gun control politicians spent equal or more time on solutions that might actually work? (Because this push for "control" is not about lowering gun violence or about protecting kids in schools. It's the latest "opportunity" brought by a national tragedy for them to push their decades old agenda to reduce our 2nd Amendment rights.)
"Congress should support the NICS Reporting Improvement Act of 2013, introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mark Begich, D-Alaska. This bill, unlike the false notion of "universal background checks," will improve the current national instant background check system (NICS) by improving the records within it.
We know that NICS needs improvement. The Graham-Begich bill helps fix NICS by clearly spelling out the definition of who is a danger to themselves or others and should not have access to firearms, while protecting the rights of law abiding citizens. In particular, America's veterans should not be deprived of their Second Amendment rights based on a purely administrative finding that they need assistance in managing their financial affairs.
The bill also takes the important step of establishing clear circumstances for the reinstatement of gun ownership rights through judicial action or administrative processes at the federal or state level. If a person is still under any mandatory treatment for a mental disorder that makes him a danger to himself or others, the person would still be prohibited from possessing firearms.
Currently, 23 states submit little or no information on mental health adjudications into NICS. To address this inadequacy, Congress should continue working to improve the background check system by strengthening incentives for states to transmit these records."
Basic article: http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-congress-support-universal-background-checks-for-gun-purchases
3 opinions opposing background checks:
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-congress-support-universal-background-checks-for-gun-purchases/broken-background-checks-wont-stop-gun-violence
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-congress-support-universal-background-checks-for-gun-purchases/a-backdoor-way-to-create-a-gun-registry
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-congress-support-universal-background-checks-for-gun-purchases/the-math-doesnt-add-up-for-gun-control-advocates
2 opinions supporting background checks:
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-congress-support-universal-background-checks-for-gun-purchases/the-case-for-universal-background-checks
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-congress-support-universal-background-checks-for-gun-purchases/its-easy-to-understand-background-checks-save-lives
Look, even the ACLU has issues with the "universal background check" proposal from Senator Charles Schumer. (This is not the same as the most recent proposal from Senators Pat Toomey (PA Rep.) and Joe Manchin (WV Dem.))
http://www.nraila.org/legislation/federal-legislation/2013/4/aclu-sees-problems-in-schumer-universal-background-check-proposal.aspx
http://dailycaller.com/2013/04/04/exclusive-aclu-says-reids-gun-legislation-could-threaten-privacy-rights-civil-liberties/
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Related blogs:
Firearms Blog Collections
http://us2ndamendment.blogspot.com/2013/03/firearms-registration-does-not-reduce.html
http://us2ndamendment.blogspot.com/2013/03/more-opinion-about-so-called-universal.html
http://us2ndamendment.blogspot.com/2013/03/opinion-universal-firearms-registration_17.html
http://us2ndamendment.blogspot.com/2013/03/opinion-background-checks-for-firearms.html
http://us2ndamendment.blogspot.com/2013/03/violent-crime-firearms-background-checks.html
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