CitizenBBN
01-19-2013, 02:35 PM
should probably put this under another thread, but kinda running around and just had to share this.
As those who have read through my diatribes know, one of my biggest peeves over current enforcement of gun laws is prosecuting people who are lying on their 4473s, the form you fill out to buy a gun. It's a felony to lie on that form, and a lot of felons lie on them and just hope to sneak by on the background check. when that check comes back "he's a felon" that means they 99.99% have a felon committing another felony, and you know his name and info.
The NRA, in their FIVE MINUTE allotment of time to present their thoughts to the Biden commission, yes 5 minutes, raised this point as part of saying we need to enforce existing laws better.
biden's answer?
"And to your point, Mr. Baker, regarding the lack of prosecutions on lying on Form 4473s, we simply don't have the time or manpower to prosecute everybody who lies on a form, that checks a wrong box, that answers a question inaccurately." That's right: Biden said the administration just doesn't have time to prosecute crimes (felonies punishable by up to a 10-year prison sentence) under existing laws, but is proposing a host of sweeping new laws.
For those who don't know the form, I want to be really clear you don't mistakenly check one of those boxes wrong very easy. there's a column of these questions and the answer is "no" on them all but the first if you quality to buy a gun. People know if they're felons, they aren't mistakenly checking the box or even filling out the form. They know they can't buy a gun.
The article finally gives me some stats on this issue too.
According to federal statistics cited in the Daily Caller article, (http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/18/biden-to-nra-we-dont-have-the-time-to-prosecute-people-who-lie-on-background-checks/) in 2010, prosecutors considered just 22 cases of information falsification, and 40 additional background-check cases ended up before prosecutors for reasons related to unlawful gun possession. Prosecutors pursued just 44 of those 62 cases, although more than 72,600 applications were denied on the basis of a background check. Overall, gun prosecutions per capita in 2011 were down 35 percent from the previous administration's peak in 2004.
Now of those 72,600 denials not all are b/c they are a felon, a lot of people find out they have a domestic violence complaint they don't even know about, but I'm betting the big majority are felons intentionally trying to sneak by the system. say 50,000 attempts by felons to buy guns.
so say 50,000 tries by a felon to buy a gun, 62 investigated, 44 prosecuted.
http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/articles/2013/1/biden-says-administration-doesn%27t-have-time-to-prosecute-people-who-lie-on-background-checks.aspx
As those who have read through my diatribes know, one of my biggest peeves over current enforcement of gun laws is prosecuting people who are lying on their 4473s, the form you fill out to buy a gun. It's a felony to lie on that form, and a lot of felons lie on them and just hope to sneak by on the background check. when that check comes back "he's a felon" that means they 99.99% have a felon committing another felony, and you know his name and info.
The NRA, in their FIVE MINUTE allotment of time to present their thoughts to the Biden commission, yes 5 minutes, raised this point as part of saying we need to enforce existing laws better.
biden's answer?
"And to your point, Mr. Baker, regarding the lack of prosecutions on lying on Form 4473s, we simply don't have the time or manpower to prosecute everybody who lies on a form, that checks a wrong box, that answers a question inaccurately." That's right: Biden said the administration just doesn't have time to prosecute crimes (felonies punishable by up to a 10-year prison sentence) under existing laws, but is proposing a host of sweeping new laws.
For those who don't know the form, I want to be really clear you don't mistakenly check one of those boxes wrong very easy. there's a column of these questions and the answer is "no" on them all but the first if you quality to buy a gun. People know if they're felons, they aren't mistakenly checking the box or even filling out the form. They know they can't buy a gun.
The article finally gives me some stats on this issue too.
According to federal statistics cited in the Daily Caller article, (http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/18/biden-to-nra-we-dont-have-the-time-to-prosecute-people-who-lie-on-background-checks/) in 2010, prosecutors considered just 22 cases of information falsification, and 40 additional background-check cases ended up before prosecutors for reasons related to unlawful gun possession. Prosecutors pursued just 44 of those 62 cases, although more than 72,600 applications were denied on the basis of a background check. Overall, gun prosecutions per capita in 2011 were down 35 percent from the previous administration's peak in 2004.
Now of those 72,600 denials not all are b/c they are a felon, a lot of people find out they have a domestic violence complaint they don't even know about, but I'm betting the big majority are felons intentionally trying to sneak by the system. say 50,000 attempts by felons to buy guns.
so say 50,000 tries by a felon to buy a gun, 62 investigated, 44 prosecuted.
http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/articles/2013/1/biden-says-administration-doesn%27t-have-time-to-prosecute-people-who-lie-on-background-checks.aspx