Gun Control Reform Activism

billh58

(6,641 posts) Fri Sep 9, 2016, 10:16 AM Sep 2016

NRA’s wailing doesn’t drown out facts on background checks

The National Rifle Association and its cohorts would love for Nevada voters to see molehills as mountains.

True to their extremist nature, the leading opponents of a November ballot question to require universal background checks on gun purchases would have voters believe that the measure is full of diabolically restrictive provisions that make it a full-on assault on the Second Amendment.

It’s not.

- Snip -

But treating any attempt at reasonable gun control as lighting the Constitution on fire is common for the gun lobby. The NRA has steamrolled meaningful attempts at getting our arms around the nation’s rampant gun problem by bullying leaders who would dare get in its way. It portrays anyone who suggests gun control measures as being hell-bent on seizing people’s guns and punishing responsible owners of firearms.

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/sep/05/nras-wailing-doesnt-drown-out-facts-on-background/

The NRA/ILA/GOA and ALEC work very hard to protect the profits of their gun manufacturer clients, and have used the same tactics for decades: fear of confiscation and government tyranny.

Quote from the article:

And background checks work. Between 2011 and 2014, more than 5,400 prospective sales involving licensed dealers were blocked in Nevada. Fugitives, felons, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill were denied purchases thanks to those checks. Nationwide, more than 2.4 million sales have been blocked.

5 replies

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NRA’s wailing doesn’t drown out facts on background checks (Original Post) billh58 Sep 2016 OP

Right, I favor UBC, but.. MicaelS Sep 2016 #1

I don't know. billh58 Sep 2016 #2

AFAIK, the number is quite low. MicaelS Sep 2016 #3

Which entity or agency billh58 Sep 2016 #4

I'll save you some trouble: billh58 Sep 2016 #5

MicaelS

(8,747 posts)

1. Right, I favor UBC, but..

Reply to billh58 (Original post)

Fri Sep 9, 2016, 04:22 PM

Sep 2016

How many of those feons who were denied have ever been prosecuted?

billh58

(6,641 posts)

2. I don't know.

Reply to MicaelS (Reply #1)

Fri Sep 9, 2016, 05:55 PM

Sep 2016

Do you?

MicaelS

(8,747 posts)

3. AFAIK, the number is quite low.

Reply to billh58 (Reply #2)

Fri Sep 9, 2016, 05:56 PM

Sep 2016

Should be much higher, IMO.

billh58

(6,641 posts)

4. Which entity or agency

Reply to MicaelS (Reply #3)

Fri Sep 9, 2016, 07:24 PM

Sep 2016

is responsible for pursuing charges against those who fail a background check?

billh58

(6,641 posts)

5. I'll save you some trouble:

Reply to MicaelS (Reply #3)

Fri Sep 9, 2016, 07:44 PM

Sep 2016

Convicted felons account for the largest share of those rejected; persons with a record of domestic violence, while growing in recent years, are a distant second.

Lying about one’s criminal history or background on the form to purchase guns is fairly common - and a federal offense - but hardly anyone is ever prosecuted. Among the 67,000 people who failed background checks conducted directly by the FBI in 2009, fewer than 70 ever faced criminal charges, a Justice Department-funded study published in April found. Justice officials cited a lack of resources.

What’s more, several thousand people each year who are prohibited from buying guns are cleared to buy them anyway. That is because gaps in the FBI criminal history data base prevent examiners from completing background checks within the three-day time limit set by federal law.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-center-for-public-integrity/badly-flawed-background-c_b_882753.html

Which political party has controlled the federal budget, including FBI resources for the prosecution of felons attempting to purchase deadly weapons, for most of the past few decades?

Which right-wing lobby group has opposed every effort to expand and improve the background checks system to make it more workable? If you answered the gun lobby, you would be correct.

The extreme right-wing gun lobby owns enough corrupt lawmakers to stifle federal legislation aimed at correcting these flaws in our legal system, mainly for the purpose of continuing to use the "enforce existing laws" NRA/ILA/GOA talking point as a marketing tool.

So who are you really taking to in this post? The right-wing gun lobby who surreptitiously controls the federal budget, or the people who are calling for issues like these to not only be fixed, but strengthened? The mere fact that background checks prevented the sale of ANY guns is a positive measure.

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