Opinion
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- H.R. 8 is sold as a “background check bill” to keep guns away from bad people, but we know from 50 years experience that less than 1% of the bad people who fail the background checks are prosecuted.
Make no mistake, this is ONLY about setting up a process which can be later used for registration of guns and gun owners.
What is needed are not more background check laws, but enforcement of existing laws. If bad guys are illegally trying to purchase a firearm, they need to be punished. The lawmakerspushing H.R. 8 do not want to do that. They are not serious about stopping bad people from getting guns, they only care about gutting the Second Amendment.
Items not mentioned by most critics of H.R. 8 are:
1- There is no exception for Curio & Relic FFL holders as being exempt-only transfers to dealers, manufacturers and importers, and specifically defined close family members. This will end the ability of C&R FFL collectors to get items shipped direct, or purchase C&R handguns out of state, or ship direct to another C&R FFL holder. There are NO exceptions for C&R collectible guns, most of which are 50-120 years old.
2- The requirement for buyer and seller to be in front of an FFL dealer while they do the background check is a potential Trojan Horse to END ALL GUN SHOWS. If BATF writes the implementing rules to require them to be done at the FFL’s “place of business” it will end any transfers at a gun show, except from a dealer’s inventory to a person passing a check at the show. No “private sales” can be completed unless the ATF rules are written to allow a dealer to do that at a show. This threat to the existence of gun shows must not be underestimated. Remember, gun shows are the meeting place and rallying point for gun rights activists. Ending gun shows “would be a feature, not a bug” if they can write the rules cleverly.
3- H.R.8 allows charging a fee for a dealer to handle a transfer- but amount is unlimited. Transfer fees typically run $20-100 but mostly around $30-40 per gun. Although charged by the dealer, it is a de facto “2nd Amendment poll tax.” FIX; Mandate that all police stations be required to process background checks at no cost. Police stations are all over, gun shops may be many miles away.
4- H.R.8 specifically prohibits establishment of a national gun registry. But, it establishes the de facto process to gather the data which will reside in the dealer’s bound books forever. When a dealer goes out of business, their records are sent to ATF. Scanning and OCR technology can convert all dealer records they have, or care to photocopy during dealer inspections, into digital databases in short order. That may not occur right away, but only a fool thinks the gun grabbers will not push for a national gun registry as the next step when their plans fail to stop criminals and crazy people. A one line amendment in a “must pass” appropriations bill could repeal the prohibition on a gun registry.
5- The bill has a known built-in loophole that can only be closed by mandating universal gun registration. A loophole the anti-gunners will demand be fixed as soon as the bill becomes law. As proposed, there is no way for the government to enforce the law, as there is no way to know whether or not a person who purchased a gun from a private individual actually had a background check performed. When confronted by law enforcement, an individual could tell which dealer performed the check and hope that that dealer properly kept records. But a person who violated the law could simply refuse to answer any questions, and other than searching every paper record of every dealer in the country, there is no way law enforcement could determine whether or not the check was performed. The only way to prevent this is to mandate universal gun registration. The anti-gunners would love to implement such a requirement today, but they know it is not politically viable. They are choosing instead to get half today and the rest tomorrow.
6- Many dealers will not handle private transfers–Walmart ended all gun sales in New Mexico because they did not want strangers bringing guns into their stores, and the potential hassles or risks for failed checks. If no one is available to handle transfers, no guns can be transferred.
About Utah Shooting Sports Council:
The Utah Shooting Sports Council represents the citizens of Utah who safely and legally own and use firearms, exercising rights guaranteed under both the United States and Utah constitutions. Visit: https://utahshootingsportscouncil.org/
Good laws deserve to be obeyed and bad laws deserve to be disobeyed. If caught, IF caught, then you should be prepared for the consequences. This country was founded on disobedience of unjust and unfair laws (Boston Tea Party, open civil disobedience, etc.) but we have come so far from that as to routinely state, “We are a nation of laws” on a regular basis, which is wrong (unless you’re a lawyer or in the “justice” system), we are a nation of individuals, free individuals with God given rights that no one has the right to deny us or suppress.… Read more »
What happens during a private sale before a dealer when the buyer fails to pass NICS check? The seller then must fill out the 4473 and what happens if they fail NICS check? The dealer has 30 days to provide weapon to local law enforcement. Each check the dealer will charge a given rate – payable up front prior to the dealer initiating the check, covering the dealers time and effort. There is a high percentage rate of first denials being overturned on appeal. So again, the actions of a few wackos places undue burdens upon the law abiding, thanks… Read more »
As I have said before shape all future laws around Trumps environmental rule writing. He won’t sign unless they send with each new rule 3 old ones that they canceled.
And prior to that take the 22,000 on the books now and pull all of the “dead wood” out and reduce to say 1,000. Really 22,000 is a ridiculous number, you can tell me most is not repeat info.,, and double talk that probably contradicts itself .
I am an absolutist when it comes to my right to be armed. There is only one constitutional gun law, The Second Amendment, which is supposed to restrict government. EVERYTHING ELSE IS AN INFRINGEMENT AND MUST BE REPEALED OR VOTED AGAINST.
And I mean everything; federal, state, and local.
Good piece. However, I don’t think that “gun shows are the meeting place and rallying point for gun rights activists.” The last gun show I went to was on January 9, 1999. I know the date because Sara Weaver included it when she signed my copy of her and her father’s book. The only reason I went was to meet and talk to them. Very nice people.
All the proposed bills have significant flaws, especially those bills sponsored or supported by Democrats. On the other side of the aisle, the media has Republicans convinced they must pass some new gun laws or run the likely risk of losing re-election. It’s time for Second Amendment supporters and freedom lovers to stand up. It’s not enough to merely opposed these bad laws, we need to help come up with some answers. Find a better way to deal with the problem. Most of the proposed solutions to our gun violence will have little effect on the problem, by design. Let’s… Read more »