Gun Control legislation in all forms are being cast upon the desks of politicians to vote on. Some are just plain alarming to me, and others could be painted in such a way to seem quite harmless to the law abiding citizen.
Of those, the "Universal Background Check" comes to mind. So the question may be, "Why would anyone oppose a 'universal background check' for anyone buying a firearm in a private transaction?"
On the face of it, it is a perfectly reasonable suggestion. Speaking ONLY for myself, I could see such a plan, if written and implemented properly. In a perfect world of firearms purchasing, what could be the harm? If we had such a reasonable plan, where all firearms purchasers, even from neighbor to neighbor, would require an Instant-check, what could be wrong with that? Nothing ... on its own.
But we don't have a perfect world, or more to the point, perfect politicians and others of authority. So what could go wrong? Why could it be a problem? The abuse of power is my fear, and that of most people I know!
To start with, we have an abundance of gun laws already. Speaking as an Ex-Cop, I can tell you that a good many of felony crimes committed with firearms, do NOT receive the prescribed minimum punishment they should get just for the firearm part of their crime. In fact, just recently one of the "straw purchasers" of all those guns bought/sold/delivered to drug cartels in our government's Fast and Furious fiasco, plead guilty and received "52 months" prison. 52 months, for the "52 guns" the guy bought for the cartel. ONLY "52 months"! That isn't even a 5 year minimum for just one gun! That's nothing, in the big scheme of things. And other criminals in various plea deals, also receive lighter sentences for gun crimes and avoid the minimums on the gun crime itself, in exchange for speeding up trials.
Secondly, I believe we are at a point where ANY slight impediment of individual freedoms, will be the proverbial "nose under the tent" for increasing to the next steps in curtailing our freedoms. It seems to me that a seemingly simple law, once enacted, can be too easily amended later, and/or enhanced, or just abused. Or, get the public to accept one restriction, and the next one will be less of a fight. (I've written before with the question, "Are we the frog in the pan?" http://american1st.blogspot.com/2012/12/are-we-frog-in-pan.html )
Lastly, I don't know of a time where the government enacted controls, restricting freedoms, where they were relaxed and/or give back later. One new law, just opens the door to the next one. And THAT is why I oppose ANY new gun laws. Enforce what we have ... FULLY. Make the violation of gun felonies be so costly to those criminals who use a gun in the commission of person felonies (*), that the "risk" is greater than any perceived "reward". But giving "the government" more authority over law abiding citizens, is a sure way to lose more freedoms, and potentially subject us to the tyranny (see 1938 Germany!) most of us vigilantly protect against.
(*) "person felonies", refers to a crime of intended or enacted violence to a person(s), and does not intend to include such crimes as damage to property or the like.
So yes, I AM opposed to any such law. That said, as a responsible gun owner, I never buy or sell to anyone I do not know or identify for myself, and always document that transaction date and to whom. I do this, not to report them, but to have available should a firearm I own/bought/sold is found to have been involved in a crime. If law enforcement comes to me abut a gun that was traced to me, I will cooperate as a responsible citizen, and point them to the next person in line of such ownership. THAT is what I would encourage every gun owner to do. THAT, I believe is being a responsible citizen. Law enforcement is NOT just the job of police. We are all part of that enforcement, by being responsible and cooperating in a constitutional way.
Add to that, a more complete data bank of those persons legally/medically found to be incompetent be part of the background check system, and I believe we have all the laws needed to take care of all but the insanely evil and heat-of-passion crimes. In the end, there are NO protections against EVIL.
Enforcement is the key! NO NEW GUN LAWS.
