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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So why are gun advocates against universal background checks? Hiding something?

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I am a gun advocate, I am in favor of universal background checks. It makes a lot of sense. I believe most gun owners are also in favor of universal background checks, it's a very popular position. I believe the issue here is with implementation - how do you enable/enforce private-party sale of firearms on this requirement. I don't know what the answer is. A lot of firearm is gifted, inherited, or sold between good friends who know each other. Cars mostly drive on public roads, triggering the requirement for proper title and registration. But most firearms are held in a private home, or conceal-carried on a person, there is no easy enforcement point.

I own 3 guns, all bought from shops in VA, and I went through a background check each time.

Maybe gun shops can provide this service for a nominal fee? Like the annual VA car safety inspection done at gas stations. Buyer/seller can show up at a gun shop to do a background check. The seller/buyer can choose to keep the sale itself private or record it with the state. If a crime is commited with the gun within 1/3/5 years of a sale, the seller must be able to produce proof of the sale, either kept on record with the state, or produce a copy of a signed private sales agreement, and proof of a background check. Otherwise, the seller loses the right to posses guns, and must pay a fine equivalent to the market value of the gun sold.

Keep in mind, this does nothing to prevent straw purchases, where there is a intent for someone to buy a gun and give it to someone they know is going to use it in a crime. However, lets hope that there's far fewer of this type of people and will therefore make it tougher for criminals and mentally unstable people to obtain guns. [/quote]

Thank you for your reasoned response.

You may not be able to catch all cases of private sales, but a  huge number of private sales are done via gun shows and on-line.  You can regulate those sales vehicles.  You can require all gun show sellers to require background checks and show proof of background check for every sale that is made.  You can require on-line gun sales sites have a background check clause with a background verification code of some sort to complete on-line sales of guns.  Yes, you will have a black market that ignores this and you will have private sales or transactions like between family that does not, but I would bet that of the 40% of annual gun sales that are transferred via private sales that you will get at least 80-90% of those transactions.  You can cut the 40% of unregistered gun sales down to 4-8% unregistered gun sales.

The next step is that you regularly and publicly note that unregistered guns will be confiscated until such time as the owner can prove that they have registered the gun and submitted to a background check.  So, if George Zimmerman is caught patrolling his neighborhood with an unregistered or has not had a background check done,  and he calls 911, a responding officer can check whether the gun is registered (just like he can check if a car is registered during a traffic stop) and if the owner has had a background check completed.  If not, the gun is confiscated, he's given a receipt and he can get his gun back when he has registered the gun and completed a background check.  If a person is defending his home, shoots an intruder (like the man in Detroit), then when the authorities arrive at the end, they can conduct the same check and take the same actions.

You will not have 100% compliance ever, and you will have a relatively low compliance initially, but the goal is to have strong compliance (like 95% of more) after several years, which is quite achievable.

The main reason that this does not have enough traction is that the NRA is a very, very powerful lobby and they are afraid of the slippery slope of any gun regulation so they fight tooth and nail with a huge investment of money to convince lawmakers to avoid any hint of compromise on gun restrictions. We need to find a way to move this conversation on around the gun lobby or we will continue to have Sandy Hooks, Orlando Pulse and Charleston church incidents more and more frequently.[/quote]

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