Why should there be “universal background checks” for firearms sales and transfers?

[M14 Shooter]

I don't give a rats ass what other countries do. I have a Constitutional right to own a firearm without infringement from the Federal or State Government. All those other countries do not and that's why you see people like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and a shit load of other dictators rise to power and murder significant amounts of their own people. The population can't fight back.

People like her don't want the American people to have the capacity to fight back.
Explains everything, - right?

 

[CowboyTed]

cars arent a constitutionally protected right dumbass,,

Well lets look at the constitution...

It was written when a gun had a rate of fire of at best 1 a minute...

I think if you think you should have a musket that can fire at that rate then I think I would give you that right...

Now if you can prove the founding founder the modern advancements in in personal weapons and the consequences of their effect to society then you are just using ancient text to run your life..

 

[progressive hunter]

Well lets look at the constitution...

It was written when a gun had a rate of fire of at best 1 a minute...

I think if you think you should have a musket that can fire at that rate then I think I would give you that right...

Now if you can prove the founding founder the modern advancements in in personal weapons and the consequences of their effect to society then you are just using ancient text to run your life..

when the 2nd was written we had the exact same guns/arms as the military which was the intent of the 2nd,,

 

[CowboyTed]

I don't give a rats ass what other countries do. I have a Constitutional right to own a firearm without infringement from the Federal or State Government. All those other countries do not and that's why you see people like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and a shit load of other dictators rise to power and murder significant amounts of their own people. The population can't fight back.

Total and utter horseshit...

The Constitution was written by a bunch of men who thought women should be allowed to vote and black people should be slaves... Do you think they should be still there too?

None of those leaders came to power due to the people having a lack of guns... But your lack of education and ignorance...

 

[Rigby5]

If someone can't buy the gun, they can't shoot people...

Anyone can buy a gun. They can buy from a drug dealer, a thief, a straw purchaser, an unfinished ghost gun, etc.
The penalty for obtaining a gun illegally is trivial compared to what they already intend to risk, so is NOT going at all to be a deterrent in any way.
If we could stop drugs, you might have a point.
But clearly we can not stop drugs, so we can not stop illegal guns.

And what if we could magically stop all illegal guns?
Would a person bent on homicide/suicide just give up when there are no laws or background checks for things like explosives, toxins, flammables, etc.?
In fact, if one used one of these methods, not only could then kill 10 times as many, but get away with it so they could keep doing it again and again.

 

[Rigby5]

Raising the minimum age to 21 would be a good thing too.

People traditionally move out of their parents house, to live on their own, at 18.
So then how are they supposed to have their 4th amendment rights of protection if they are not allowed to be armed?

 

[Big Bend Texas]

If someone can't buy the gun, they can't shoot people...

Legal restrictions don't stop anyone from getting a gun that wants one.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

People traditionally move out of their parents house, to live on their own, at 18.
So then how are they supposed to have their 4th amendment rights of protection if they are not allowed to be armed?

You are confusing 4th amendment protections against gov't violating your home and privacy with the 2nd Amendment Right that allows you to be armed to defend your self, home, and family.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

It makes it harder to get a gun. That is progress.

Again, it makes it harder to kill someone. Thats a win.

Fewer guns = fewer gun deaths.

There is no data or facts anywhere to suggest this is true.

Over half of all shootings are committed by people who cannot legally purchase or possess firearms.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

no it doesnt,, just takes more time and planning,,

Find a drug dealer and you are only one step away from buying a gun illegally. Hell, most users can point you in the right direction or sell you one they stole to support their habit.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

youre also forgetting that most mass shooter can and did pass background checks because they hadnt committed any crimes before they decided to do it,,

Actually, most mass shooters are not using guns they obtained legally.

 

[Rigby5]

Well lets look at the constitution...

It was written when a gun had a rate of fire of at best 1 a minute...

I think if you think you should have a musket that can fire at that rate then I think I would give you that right...

Now if you can prove the founding founder the modern advancements in in personal weapons and the consequences of their effect to society then you are just using ancient text to run your life..

What the constitution really said is that the federal government has no business making any laws concerning firearms.
Since all political power is supposed to come from the people in a democratic republic, they also have to be the source of all firearms power.
NOT the government.
The Founders were clear they did not want armed mercenaries, like professional police or standing armies.
They wanted armed citizen soldiers instead.

Are you telling me that in a democratic republic, you don't think we can trust the public to be armed?
That is totally in contradiction with the whole concept of a democratic republic.

The public is who we can and are supposed to trust, not mercenaries.
And if the general public can not be trusted, then there has to be something terribly wrong with our schools that has to change. The problem is not the public, but our institutions instead, and what those institutions are doing to people.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

Raising the minimum age to 21 would be a good thing too.

You can't show how it would have any measurable effect on reducing shootings.

About 95% of so called gun crimes are committed with hand guns which cannot be legally purchased now until age 21.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

Yup. Too many young men who commit those mass shootings.

Perfect reason why they should raise the minimum age for rifles.

Most of which are committed with unlawfully obtained handguns, not rifles.

 

[progressive hunter]

What the constitution really said is that the federal government has no business making any laws concerning firearms.
Since all political power is supposed to come from the people in a democratic republic, they also have to be the source of all firearms power.
NOT the government.
The Founders were clear they did not want armed mercenaries, like professional police or standing armies.
They wanted armed citizen soldiers instead.

Are you telling me that in a democratic republic, you don't think we can trust the public to be armed?
That is totally in contradiction with the whole concept of a democratic republic.

The public is who we can and are supposed to trust, not mercenaries.
And if the general public can not be trusted, then there has to be something terribly wrong with our schools that has to change. The problem is not the public, but our institutions instead, and what those institutions are doing to people.

constitutional republic,, try googling it sometime,,

 

[Rigby5]

youre also forgetting that most mass shooter can and did pass background checks because they hadnt committed any crimes before they decided to do it,,

That is the whole point, that these has to be something intrinsically wrong with society and schools in particular, if these otherwise law abiding citizens are being made so upset by schools that they want to commit mass murder/suicide.
Clearly blaming the individual makes no sense and it a coverup.
It has to be society and schools in particular, that are inherently wrong and causing all the violence.

 

[Big Bend Texas]

I see no good reason why a federal law should not be passed that requires a background check for any and every gun sold in a gun store, online, or gun show. Some states already do that, but IMHO every state should. Private sales are another matter, I don't think that can reasonably be done, BUT - if a crime is committed with a gun and the person with the gun has not passed a background check then that person should face additional penalties. I do not see how the 2nd Amendment rights of any law-abiding citizen would suffer under such a law. If I bought a gun via a private sale then I should make sure I have had a background check on myself done, and in fact there should be a website where anyone can do that. Moreover, if a gun owner discovers that any of his/her guns is missing then that person should file a report with the local police.

Look - there's no easy answer to the problem of gun violence and mass shootings. UBCs are not going to solve the problem, nobody is saying otherwise. But it can't hurt and if we keep a gun out of the hands of even one deranged shooter then isn't it worth it? I'm a gun owner myself, I passed a background check without issue, so why shouldn't every other wannabe gun owner do the same thing?

BC's are already required on every purchase through an FFL dealer whether it is online, through a store, or at a gun show.

I'd be fine with UBC's IF we allow private individuals access to the NICS system but not if they have to go through an FFL.

Going through an FFL eliminates private transfers completely by definition and that violates a whole host of rights.

 

[Rigby5]

Raising the minimum age to 21 would be a good thing too.

How about lowering the maximum age to 35 or so, before people get bitter and cynical?

 

[Big Bend Texas]

constitutional republic,, try googling it sometime,,

With democratically elected representatives.

Yes, it's complicated and takes too long to type out so most people abbreviate.

 

[M14 Shooter]

Well lets look at the constitution...
It was written when a gun had a rate of fire of at best 1 a minute...
I think if you think you should have a musket that can fire at that rate then I think I would give you that right...
Now if you can prove the founding founder the modern advancements in in personal weapons and the consequences of their effect to society then you are just using ancient text to run your life..

Your argument was dismissed 2 decades ago.

Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment . We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications, e.g., Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U. S. 844, 849 (1997) , and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern forms of search, e.g., Kyllo v. United States, 533 U. S. 27, 35–36 (2001) , the Second Amendment extends, prima facie,to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.
DC v Heller, 2008