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« on: September 27, 2019, 02:55:09 PM » |
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The Patriot Post - Alexander's Column 9-25-2019
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · The Real Threat of the Demos' 'Universal Background Checks'
By Mark Alexander · Sep. 25, 2019
https://patriotpost.us/alexander/65708-the-real-threat-of-the-demos-universal-background-checks-2019-09-25
“When the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised … to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually.” —George Mason (1788)
(Note: If you missed our analysis of the latest Democrat effort to obstruct Trump’s agenda by way of Pelosi’s “impeachment inquiry,” read Democrat Collusion 2.0: Game On!1)
At the 2016 Democrat convention, when Hillary Clinton2 was coronated as the next president because only Deplorables would vote for Donald Trump3, she declared: “I’m not here to repeal the Second Amendment. I’m not here to take away your guns.”
That was a brazen lie, of course — and it didn’t fool anyone on Election Day.
Fast-forward to last month’s back-to-back mass murders in Texas and Ohio by assailants using firearms.
Predictably, Democrats are using those rare but high-profile attacks as a pretext for new gun-control laws4. In response, Trump declared he would work with Democrats5 to see if there was common ground on Demo legislation for background checks6, which might have an incremental impact on accessibility to firearms by those who will either harm themselves or others. However, upon studying the Demos’ other more symbolic and sinister proposals — “red flag” laws7 and “assault weapon8” bans — the administration declared them DOA9.
The administration’s apparent willingness to consider more stringent background-check legislation resulted in immediate pushback10 from Liberty11 and Second Amendment12 advocates. While most Americans believe all firearm purchasers should be qualified, there’s a very legitimate concern that implementing “enhanced” background checks for any firearm transfer under any circumstance will lead to a national firearm registry — which will ultimately lead to confiscation.
Trump could have taken an easy pass on this debate after Beto O'Rourke used the Demo debate stage13 to expose the Left’s long-term gun-confiscation14 objective. When asked, “Are you proposing taking away their guns and how would this work?” O'Rourke responded, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47!” From there, it’s not much of a leap for statists to begin the incremental ban on most firearms.
Trump called out O'Rourke, declaring, “Dummy Beto made it much harder to make a deal. Convinced many that Dems just want to take your guns away.” But then added, “Will continue forward!”
Why would he continue forward? Even congressional Democrats are furious at O'Rourke15 for letting the mask slip and exposing their confiscation goals. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer went into full damage-control mode, deceptively declaring, “I don’t know of any other Democrat who agrees with Beto O'Rourke.”
While Chuck might not, I know plenty of them.
Trump could still use O'Rourke’s declaration as an easy out, claiming he has poisoned the debate, but regardless, Democrat insistence on “universal background checks” isn’t going away. They know it has popular support across party lines16. That support isn’t likely to be reflected in ballot measures because media polling17 doesn’t reflect full consideration of the implications. Other reputable polls indicate that support for gun-control measures in general is trending downward18.
For that reason, it’s important to better understand concerns about, and objections to, broader FBI background checks and firearms transfers, and the very real risk that data from such checks could be used to create a national gun registry — if such an “off the books” registry isn’t already being maintained.
But before tackling that serious concern, here are two observations.
First, this is my personal position on buying and selling a firearm: Every firearm I’ve acquired has been through a dealer, which is to say those purchases have been subject to background checks. I have never sold or transferred a firearm to anyone other than a dealer, a law-enforcement officer, or someone known to me who has an active firearm carry permit or is active-duty military. In other words, every firearm I’ve owned has been vetted, and every firearm I’ve sold or given away has been to a qualified recipient. Having been a uniformed patrolman at the start of my career, these are my personal standards for firearm transactions. (If Beto has access to some rogue registry and wants to come confiscate my firearms, I look forward to meeting him.)
Second, about the so-called “gun-show loophole”: As 2A advocates often explain, there is no legal loophole regarding sales by licensed dealers at such events. Those sales are subject to the same background checks as any other retail sale by a dealer holding a federal firearms license (FFL). But an estimated 15-20% of firearm transactions at these venues are between individuals and are thus not currently subject to any federal background checks — unless those take place in one of the 21 states that have regulations regarding handgun purchases at gun shows.
For example, I recently became aware that two 16-year-olds and an 18-year-old purchased three AR-15 pistols from a table vendor at a gun show. Most vendors are FFL dealers, but transactions by vendors who aren’t dealers, and other sellers connecting with buyers at those venues, bypass background checks.
Would broader federal regulations regarding background checks on individual sales stop such transactions? At best, these might create an obstacle that will simply send some of these transactions underground. Again, only law-abiding citizens obey the law.
Now, regarding concern that implementing enhanced background checks for any firearm transfer under any circumstance will lead to a national firearm registry: That concern is completely justified.
If you haven’t purchased a firearm from an FFL dealer, here is the process:
Before a firearm can be transferred to the buyer, that buyer must complete ATF Form 447319.
That Form 4473 is then uploaded through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS20), which was established by Congress under P.L. 110–18021. In what is now an instant check in most cases, Form 4473 information is compared to an FBI database to determine if the buyer is eligible to make that purchase. A dealer can also query the NICS system to determine if a firearm has been stolen.
(For the record, in 2017, the NICS background check denied transfer to 112,000 individuals, most of whom submitted false information, though fewer than 50 of those individuals have been prosecuted.)
So, the question that should be of concern to all firearm purchasers is: What happens to the Form 4473 information once the purchase has been cleared?
There are a number of federal laws that make a permanent federal registry of Form 4473 data unlawful, mandating that the federal agency destroy the Form 4473 information once the background check is complete.
I’ll include these provisions in detail below because they’re difficult to find, and because many consumers and even dealers aren’t aware of these specific legal prohibitions. Yet even though such a registry would violate the law, given the abject disregard for Rule of Law22 demonstrated by FBI leadership23 under former Director James Comey24 and under former President Barack Obama, concerns about such lawlessness are completely legitimate. And they’re yet another reason that President Trump could cite as justification for exiting the gun-registration debate.
It relates specifically to NICS, Section 511 of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012, 18 U.S.C. 922 note25 and Public Law 112–5526; 125 Stat. 632. |
