Archive for the ‘Guns’ Category

GOP to Look at Brady Gun Laws and Background Check Effectiveness

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Staffers from the House Judiciary Committee will meet with Obama administration officials Thursday, January 27, to examine the effectiveness of federal laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, according to a Republican aide with the panel.

The closed-door gathering will focus on whether a federal system of background checks is working to block gun sales to the mentally ill and others barred from owning firearms, the aide said Tuesday. The meeting comes three weeks after a shooting rampage in Arizona killed a federal judge, left a congresswoman seriously wounded and reignited the public debate over whether laws need to be tightened to prevent gun sales to those with mental problems.

Staff at Thursday’s meeting will consider whether the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is effective. The system is an FBI-run database created by the 1993 Brady Handgun violence Prevention Act — a law named after former President Reagan’s press secretary, James Brady, who was seriously injured during the 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan.

Under current law, licensed gun dealers are required to screen potential buyers through NICS to ensure they don’t fit one of the categories barring them from purchasing firearms, including felons, illegal immigrants, spousal abusers and the mentally ill. The system is largely voluntary, however, as states are encouraged — but not required — to report information to NICS.

The holes in the screening system became evident in 2007, when Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old Virginia Tech student, killed 32 students and teachers in one of the deadliest shooting rampages in the nation’s history. Although a judge had declared Cho mentally ill two years earlier, the state did not report its evaluation to NICS, allowing Cho to pass a background check by a licensed dealer.

Following the Virginia Tech tragedy, Congress unanimously passed a law designed to bolster the NICS system by providing states with financial incentives to report records of mental illness (and other red-flag cases) to the FBI. The NICS Improvement Amendments Act was supported by the NRA and signed by then-President George W. Bush in early 2008, but reporting by states remains voluntary.

Different state privacy laws, budget restraints and political considerations have hampered the effectiveness of the enhanced reporting. Indeed, through August of last year, 10 states had not reported any
cases of mental illness to NICS, while 28 states had submitted fewer than 100 records, according to Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an advocacy group.

On Monday, Mayors Against Illegal Guns — a group headed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino — introduced a proposal to require states to report mental health records, drug-abuse histories, domestic violence cases and other red flags to NICS. The proposal would also require unlicensed gun dealers to perform NICS background checks — a step not mandated under current law.

“While I support the Second Amendment rights of responsible, law-abiding Americans, I also support tough, common-sense laws to keep guns out of the hands of felons, drug abusers, the mentally ill and other dangerous people,” Grant Woods, former Republican attorney general of Arizona, said in endorsing the Bloomberg proposal.

NICS funding is also an issue Judiciary will examine Thursday. Although the post-Virginia Tech law authorized $188 million for NICS in fiscal 2009, and another $375 million in fiscal 2010, Congress
appropriated only $10 million and $20 million, respectively — or 5.3 percent of each year’s authorization.

With Republicans controlling the House, even the most vocal gun-control advocates have been pessimistic about the chances of any gun reforms moving in the 112th Congress — even after the near-assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), deflected questions to the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the gun-reform issue.

President Obama invoked Giffords’s spirit during Tuesday’s State of the Union address but made no mention of gun reform — a silence that irritated gun-control advocates on and off Capitol Hill. “I’m disappointed, but not surprised,” Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a longtime gun-reform proponent, said after the speech. David Plouffe, a senior White House adviser, said Tuesday
that the disappointment is premature. “[Obama's] going to address this,” Plouffe told NBC’s Brian Williams.

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Virginia Tech Victims Families ask Government to Fix Background Checks for Guns

Monday, January 24th, 2011

WASHINGTON — In the wake of the Tucson, Arizona shootings, in which a gunman killed six people and injured 13 others, family members of victims in the mass 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech are urging Congress to fix a gun background-check system that often allows people to buy firearms even after they have been convicted of crimes or judged mentally ill.

Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged shooter of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and others, fits the profile to be denied gun ownership under federal law. He has a documented history of drug abuse, including a 2007 arrest on drug charges. But like Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho, Loughner was able to slip through the cracks and purchase a gun because of missing records in the background-check system that federally-licensed gun dealers consult before selling a weapon.

Congress has attempted to solve this problem before, but with unsatisfying results. In the months following the Virginia Tech shooting, lawmakers passed a bill meant to increase the number of records entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Lori Haas, whose daughter Emily survived being shot twice in the head at Virgina Tech, said the weekend’s events should renew focus on the need for Congress to implement stronger gun control. Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter, purchased a gun over the counter despite being found a danger to himself in court in 2005, which should have disqualified him from such a purchase.

“When mentally ill people get their hands on a gun, something is wrong with the system.”

Since 2007, Congress has provided only a small amount of the funds it promised states to improve documentation in the background-check system.

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Jared Loughner Was Kept off FBI Background Check List Due to Reno Era Policies

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Put in place by then-Attorney General Janet Reno, the policy prohibited the military from reporting certain drug abusers to the FBI, which manages the national list of prohibited gun-buyers, federal officials said.

Loughner attempted to enlist in the Army in December 2008 but was rejected because he failed a drug-screening process, Army officials said. Within a year, Loughner bought a Harrington Richardson shotgun from Sportsman’s Warehouse in Tucson.

In November, he went back to the same store and purchased a Glock 19 – the one he is accused of using in the Jan. 8 rampage that killed six and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D).

Federal law since 1968 has prohibited gun sales to anyone who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. Licensed dealers have been required to check the backgrounds of gun-buyers since 1994. But the Reno policy told federal agencies not to report people who had voluntarily given drug tests for fear it would deter them from seeking treatment, federal officials said.

“We do get reports from the military,” said John A. Strong, the FBI section chief who oversees the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). “Although if you are trying to get into the military and flunk the drug test, that’s a voluntary test and you are exempted. The [Justice Department] has decided to exempt voluntary drug tests. They did not want to have a chilling effect on those seeking treatment.”

Robyn Thiemann, deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Policy, said, “It was a policy determination that was made in the Reno administration.” She said she could not release the memo because it is an internal document.

The Reno policy remained in place despite a 2007 law designed to improve the NICS. That law ordered all federal agencies to forward to the FBI the names of those ineligible under federal law to buy a gun from a licensed dealer. The law states that the names are to be sent at least quarterly, “notwithstanding any other law.”

Despite the NICS Improvement Amendments Act, the Defense Department apparently did not change its policy. Drug test information is still not forwarded to the FBI to protect the privacy of the applicants, said Col. Thomas Collins, an Army spokesman.

“Currently, there is no statute that clearly stipulates what conditions or scenario would warrant a report about military applicants or recruits to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System,” said Defense Department spokeswoman Eileen Lainez.

If Loughner had been put on the prohibited list in 2008, he would have remained there for one year under the rules of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which enforces federal gun law. It will never be known if he would have tried to buy a second gun after being denied the first.

Few drug abusers wind up on the NICS list as being ineligible to purchase a firearm because of that abuse or addiction. The current number of people who are listed in that database is 2,092, or less than 1 percent of the 6 million names, according to NICS data. Of those who tried to buy firearms between 1998 and 2008 but were prohibited, drug abusers made up about 8 percent, or 65,000, the data show.

Strong said that’s partly because many drug abusers are in the database as felons, who are also prohibited from buying firearms from licensed dealers. Strong added that Loughner’s 2007 arrest for possession of drug paraphernalia was not reported by the state to the NICS. The charge was dismissed after he entered a drug-diversion program.

Anyone can end up on the list if it can be determined that the person has abused drugs within a year, Strong said. For example, a current or former member of the armed forces can be added to the list if a soldier is disciplined, arrested, convicted at court-martial or discharged for drug abuse.

The Arizona case has prompted two New York politicians, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) and Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D), to call for the military to report drug offenders to the FBI-run background check list. “We should fix this reporting loophole,” Schumer wrote Sunday to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. Justice spokesman Matthew Miller said the department was reviewing Schumer’s letter.

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Colorado Criminal Background Checks and Guns

Monday, October 4th, 2010

It appears folks in Colorado, especially Pueblo county, are jumping onto the firearms bandwagon in droves. The past 2guns-and-criminal-background-check-in-colorado years, since the election of Barack Obama, the sales of firearms across the country has sky-rocketed. In fact, Winchester reported at one point, their factories were going flat out, and they still couldn’t keep up. The number of criminal background checks has also seen a major increase, along with the revenues that accompany any such change.

In Pueblo county, Colorado, the Sheriff’s office issued 380 permits in 2008, and 545 in 2009. That’s a 43% increase in a state where it’s already legal to openly carry a firearm. It also the largest increase in a 7 year period. This is also no doubt a boon for Colorado itself as a criminal background check for this procedure cost upwards of $150, and pays for a CBI background check, a photo identification card and the processing of fingerprints. Information is also sent to the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for background and registration purposes.

“I have given out more concealed handgun permits than in the history of the county of Pueblo. That’s six or seven permits a day,” first-term Sheriff Kirk Taylor said the week of September 27. Taylor also said he is amazed at the spike in permits but didn’t call it concerning.

Of course, as mentioned thousands of times before, so far without any evidence, many believe that President Barack Obama is a threat to the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

“I think the election was the catalyst to the hysteria. That and a lot of misinformation about concealed handguns,” said Taylor, a Democrat who said he’s a “strong” supporter of the Second Amendment.
In Colorado there appear to be two major misconceptions that people have about their rights to firearms, and were explained in further detail by Sheriff Taylor. These include having a gun in a vehicle, and bearing a firearm on oneself.

People think you need a concealed handgun permit to carry a gun in your car. By law, you can carry a gun in your car because it’s an extension of your house,” he said.

Colorado is also an open-carry state, which means you can openly carry a firearm, except in places where it’s prohibited, like the courthouse and schools. Now, if you walk down the street with a .45 strapped to your leg, that doesn’t mean a citizen isn’t going to call you in to the police, but you can openly carry a firearm in Colorado.”

I personally think openly carrying a firearm in this day and age should NOT be legal. This is mainly because most people are on a knife edge about terrorism and recent mass murders, and would no doubt literally go ballistic if encountering someone with a 45 strapped to their hip.

Out of the 545 concealed carry permits issued in Pueblo County, Colorado last year, only six of them were denied a permit, which was probably based on a criminal background check. Those who have been denied a permit can appeal to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

In Colorado, you can also conduct a personal criminal background check fairly simply using the state’s court system. I have written an article on how to get started with this here.

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Why no Criminal Background Check in Virginia for Gun Buyers?

Friday, October 1st, 2010

If you’re living in Virginia, you may be one of those who consider the state and its residents rather sophisticated because of the state’s long history in U.S. politics. Perhaps the long, noble history of tobacco growing has even had an effect on your personal opinion. Well folks, sorry to bust your bubble, but it just ain’t so. You see, the problem is that Virginia is also one of the most popular places to buy guns in the entire United States…for out-of-state criminals that is.

No doubt most Virginians are law abiding citizens, and this problem doesn’t occur to them. However, our nation’s felons and gun toting crazies, flock there by the hundreds in order to purchase firearms WIHOUT a criminal background check. Want a gun? No problem, just run down to the corner gun shop and pick one up before lunch.

The problem isn’t an easy one to fix either. The NRA and gun lobbying groups in Richmond are a major part of the reason that Virginia is one of the nation’s most well stocked weapons depots. On top of that, the state is host to important interstate highways. All this combines into an ideal environment for deep-pocketed criminals with impulsive trigger fingers.

A new in-depth report from the coalition of Mayors again Illegal Guns lays out the problem of lax criminal background check procedure rather well. For example:

  • In each of the past four years, Virginia has been the point of sale for at least 2,500 guns used in out-of-state crimes. Only Georgia has consistently outranked it.
  • Although Virginia has just 2.5 percent of the nation’s population, last year it was the source of about 6 percent of the traceable guns purchased in one state and used in a crime in another.
  • Of 10 key gun control laws identified in the report, Virginia has enacted just four. Among the nation’s 12 largest states, which include Virginia, only Texas, Florida, Ohio and Georgia have gun laws that are more lax. Jurisdictions with tougher statutes — New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, the District — rank among the nation’s least likely places for out-of-state criminals to buy weapons.

Oh yea, and before you jump on the bandwagon, that the United States is one of the most civilized nations on earth, consider this. Even though crime rates are dropping, our nation remains one of the most violent societies on the planet. We have 12,000 or so gun murders every year here in the  U.S.

Now, I am all for the 2nd Amendment, and sincerely hope this country never comes to the point where it’s thrown away outright. The problem is that states like Virginia with severely lax gun laws that don’t require a criminal background check for every single new gun purchase have a serious moral obligation to the rest of the country. They are also partly responsible for a percentage of the 12,000 annual gun murders.

The report I mentioned earlier also includes another statistic. That is, it states that just about 33% of the firearms used by criminals are acquired in one state and then used in another. The report also makes it clear, there’s a rather brightly lit correlation between a state’s gun laws and the number of “crime guns” being exported.

I fully stand behind the push to close the so called “gun show loophole” that allows unlicensed vendors to sell weapons without a criminal background check or even permits. This list of potential misfits that thrive on this is rather extensive and includes, gun traffickers, felons, mentally ill, rapists, and who knows how many others we don’t know about.

I believe Virginia should require all buyers of gun to obtain a permit, and they should also leave it up to the local law enforcement to deny a concealed-carry permit on a case by case basis. And, local cities and counties should be allowed to pass more stringent legislation, to a degree, if they feel it’s needed.

Yup folks, the old gun lobby isn’t giving up too easy. In the meantime, I would advise you to do a criminal background check if you are uncomfortable. I always say, better safe than sorry. And believe me, a little laziness can cost you big time in the long run.

Oh, and feel free to leave your opinions and comments regarding this issue. You can bash me, I don’t delete comments unless they are from spammers, or seriously offensive.

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