UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS & THE ENFORCEMENT PROBLEM

Universal background check proposals often impose background checks on all transfers of firearms, with varying exceptions. However, without a gun registry, it’s virtually impossible to enforce the universal background check system.

MYTH: There are “gun show” and “online sales” loopholes that allow criminals to obtain firearms.

FACT: Bureau of justice statistics show that 77% of criminals in state prison for firearm crimes get firearms through theft, on the black market, from a drug dealer or “on the street, or from family members and friends. Less than 1% get firearms at “gun shows.”

ATF has said that nearly half of all illegally trafficked firearms originate with “straw” purchasers who buy guns for criminals. This is ALREADY ILLEGAL.

All federal dealers - regardless of location (gun show, gun shop, online) have to run a background check before selling or transferring a firearm to a person who is not a dealer. This INCLUDES online sales.

MYTH: Background checks will reduce mass shootings.

FACT: Most mass shooters pass background checks to acquire firearms. Robert Card passed numerous background checks to obtain his firearms. In fact, Robert Card was blocked from buying a suppressor months before the shooting because he self-reported that he was in a mental health facility on the form that the dealer is required to review.

IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT SUPRESSORS:

Purchasing a suppressor is not like purchasing a firearm.

Suppressors need to be registered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. You need to be approved to purchase and registered as an owner of a suppressor prior to taking possession of it.

The process: Fill out required BATF forms, get fingerprints done and photographs. Submit the paperwork and pay the $200 transfer/registration fee (tax stamp). When you are approved, the dealer is authorized to transfer the suppressor to the individual WITH ANOTHER BACKGROUND CHECK.

Robert Card not only passed a NICS background check, but he also successfully obtained a tax stamp ($200 registration fee). The only reason he was denied the suppressor was because he self-reported his stay in the mental health facility.

SO - WHAT DOES FEDERAL LAW ALREADY DO?

-     Requires firearms dealers, manufacturers, and importers to initiative background checks on any non-dealer who wants to purchase a firearm.

-     Federal law prohibits possession by 9 categories of prohibited persons: [felons, fugitives, persons with qualifying mental health histories, illegal drug users and addicts, illegal aliens, people dishonorably discharged,  people who have renounced US citizenship, persons convicted of DV misdemeanors, and people under certain types of DV restraining orders].

Can you advertise a firearm on the internet?

Yes, but the following still applies:

-     Federal law prohibits the transfer of a firearm to anyone known or believed to be prohibited.

-     Federal law prohibits a non-dealer from acquiring a handgun outside his state of residence and prohibits a non-dealer from acquiring a rifle or shotgun from a non-dealer outside his state of residence.

-     Federal law prohibits anyone from transferring a handgun to a non-dealer who resides in another state (with rare exceptions), and prohibits a non-dealer from transferring a firearm to a non-licensee who resides in another state.

-     Federal law prohibits the acquisition of a firearm on behalf of a person who is prohibited from possessing firearms.

-     Federal law prohibits anyone from providing a handgun to a juvenile (person under age 18), and prohibits juveniles from possessing handguns, with limited exceptions.

If background checks are instant, why are universal background checks such a big deal?

Because it’s not about a background check. It’s about establishing a gun registry which is prohibited by state and federal law.

Universal background checks are unenforceable without a gun registry because you count on people to “do the right thing.” Of course, law-abiding individuals will. However, criminals will not - we already know that.

In 2013, the Obama Department of Justice acknowledged that requiring universal background checks “depends on… requiring gun registration.”

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