CitizenBBN
01-15-2013, 10:15 PM
More specifically he agrees with me. On two things apparently.
1) Remember when I wrote my letter to the NRA and put it here and one of the things I listed was for the ATF to begin prosecuting people who lie on their 4473 forms when they try to buy a handgun, that they've committed a felony but are never pursued?
one of the things he says he will possibly do by executive order is to increase prosecution of these people.
the NRA and dealers have called for for years, and which I called for when this happened. Why are we adding new laws when we have felons running around the ATF/DOJ refuse to prosecute for tying to obtain a firearm illegally? Seems like we'd prosecute the guys already being caught in felonies by the current background check system before we worry about adding more checks to the system, right?
Of course no one has given credit to the NRA or the dealers for their advancement of this idea or how they have in fact suggested responsible reforms to the system.
2) Remember my complaints about the NICS system? another action will be to compel the states to do a better job of reporting mental illness info to the NICS system so checks can be more accurate.
Again, something I called for when this started, pointing out that there are a lot of weaknesses in how the system works b/c the states and localities only cooperate voluntarily and often don't provide important info the FBI needs.
3) not an agreement, so not in my total, but he does talk about gun "trafficking". This goes to the lack of a bright line test as to what constitutes a "dealer". You can buy a gun, decide you don't want it and then sell it. If you buy it to make money that supposedly requires a license, but it happens constantly b/c there's no way to prove or disprove such a thing so it's ignored even by ATF.
Establishing a bright line test, i.e. you can't sell the guns within x months or more than y guns a year, would make it clear who needs a license and who doesn't. So I don't accept the connotation of "trafficking" b/c it's not trying to get around the law, it's a lack of clarity in the law. ATF itself has changed it's position more than once on who needs a license. Give people something clear and 90% will follow it.
So in fairness to the PResident there are some things in his executive order list that are good things, and in fact are appropriate for an executive order. They address better enforcement of existing legislation rather than trying to legislate. the law already says you can't get a gun if you're mentally incompetent, this makes the database more reliable. That's all good. Prosecuting people who commit felonies attempting to get a gun, that's good too.
now, why can't we do these obvious things and forget the grandstanding about assault weapons?
1) Remember when I wrote my letter to the NRA and put it here and one of the things I listed was for the ATF to begin prosecuting people who lie on their 4473 forms when they try to buy a handgun, that they've committed a felony but are never pursued?
one of the things he says he will possibly do by executive order is to increase prosecution of these people.
the NRA and dealers have called for for years, and which I called for when this happened. Why are we adding new laws when we have felons running around the ATF/DOJ refuse to prosecute for tying to obtain a firearm illegally? Seems like we'd prosecute the guys already being caught in felonies by the current background check system before we worry about adding more checks to the system, right?
Of course no one has given credit to the NRA or the dealers for their advancement of this idea or how they have in fact suggested responsible reforms to the system.
2) Remember my complaints about the NICS system? another action will be to compel the states to do a better job of reporting mental illness info to the NICS system so checks can be more accurate.
Again, something I called for when this started, pointing out that there are a lot of weaknesses in how the system works b/c the states and localities only cooperate voluntarily and often don't provide important info the FBI needs.
3) not an agreement, so not in my total, but he does talk about gun "trafficking". This goes to the lack of a bright line test as to what constitutes a "dealer". You can buy a gun, decide you don't want it and then sell it. If you buy it to make money that supposedly requires a license, but it happens constantly b/c there's no way to prove or disprove such a thing so it's ignored even by ATF.
Establishing a bright line test, i.e. you can't sell the guns within x months or more than y guns a year, would make it clear who needs a license and who doesn't. So I don't accept the connotation of "trafficking" b/c it's not trying to get around the law, it's a lack of clarity in the law. ATF itself has changed it's position more than once on who needs a license. Give people something clear and 90% will follow it.
So in fairness to the PResident there are some things in his executive order list that are good things, and in fact are appropriate for an executive order. They address better enforcement of existing legislation rather than trying to legislate. the law already says you can't get a gun if you're mentally incompetent, this makes the database more reliable. That's all good. Prosecuting people who commit felonies attempting to get a gun, that's good too.
now, why can't we do these obvious things and forget the grandstanding about assault weapons?