ChrisL
Diamond Member
That one is declined on a NICS background check doesn't mean he isn't allowed to purchase and take possession of his firearm if he's not a prohibited person:What is your opinion on background checks? For or against and why or why not?![]()
On Background checks....I would be fine with what we have now...but they need to clean it up so that it doesn't mess up so much.....I do this mainly to appease the anti gunners who want it even though it only hassles law abiding gun owners...
As to adding mental illness to the background check......I don't trust the anti gunners when they push this...they want to use it to classify any interaction with a mental health professional as a reason to pull someones gun rights...as in the case of insomnia.....
Also, they need to be instantaneous, and no permanent record...just a pass fail...otherwise you are giving the anti gunners a registry they can use later...to either ban guns or simply to publish who owns guns in the local paper...which they did after Sandy Hook....
Does that help...?
Sure does. Thanks for your input.
I would agree with the mental illness classification, because a person can be situationally depressed and seek mental health counseling for that. That, I don't think, should disqualify that person from owning a gun for self defense. Situational depression is not a "lasting" type of mental problem but only temporary. Also, that could affect those who suffer from ADD or other such mild disorders which they can outgrow and/or those which can be controlled with medication.
Now, what do you mean by cleaning it up?
This is from John Lott on the false positives that hassle law abiding gun owners....I posted it earlier...
CPRC in the Associated Press on background checks - Crime Prevention Research Center
But saying that half the denials are later overturned after appeal gives a misleading impression of the number of mistakes that were made by the NICS system. Take the numbers for 2009. There were 71,010 initial denials. Of those, only 4,681, or 6.6 percent, were referred to the BATF field offices for further investigation. As a report on these denials by the U.S. Department of Justice indicates, âThe remaining denials (66,329 â 93%) did not meet referral guidelines or were overturned after review by Brady Operations or after the FBI received additional information.â The last two of these three categories are clearly false positives. The first might involve false positives, but it is possible that the disqualifying offenses are too old (though there are some prosecutions that involve misdemeanor violations that are four decades old so that isnât too obvious). To put it differently, the initial review didnât find that these individuals had a record that prevented them from buying a gun. (Numbers for 2010 are available here.)
Still that isnât the end of the story. Of these 4,681 referrals, over 51 percent, or 2,390 cases, involve âdelayed denials,â cases where a check hasnât even been completed. Of the rest, 2,291 covered cases where initial reviews indicated that the person should have been denied buying a gun. But the government admits that upon further review another 572 of these referrals were found ânot [to be] a prohibited person,â leaving about 4,154 cases. That implies an initial false positive rate of roughly 94.2%. And it still doesnât mean that the government hasnât made a mistake on the remaining cases. In some cases for example, a personâs criminal record was supposed to be expunged, and it had not been.
Well how can they get away with denying a person if the individuals did not have a record which would make it illegal for them to possess a gun? Mistakes?
What is "referral guidelines?"
âA Delayed message from the NICS indicates the subject of a NICS background check has been matched with a similar name and similar descriptive information associated with a record containing a potential state or federal firearm prohibition. The NICS Section must obtain additional information before making a final determination of a Proceed or Denied for the firearm transfer. The NICS Section is afforded three business days in which to conduct this research. If the NICS Section is unable to provide either a Proceed or Denied response to the Federal Firearms Licensee within three business days, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 does not prohibit the Federal Firearms Licensee, or FFL, from transferring the firearm; however, the FFL is not required to do so.â
FBI Reasons NICS Background Checks are Denied or Delayed
The burden of proof rests with the government, not the person buying the gun; if the government is not able to establish that the buyer is a prohibited person, the buyer is allowed to take possession of his firearm.
Don't you think that is infringing upon the right? The government is infringing on people's right, and you applaud this?