Why “Universal Background Checks” For Gun Sales Don’t Work

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Aww, FBI. You tried, and that’s what matters.

This is why Second Amendment advocates should be wary of  “universal background checks.”

Universal NICS checks–e.g., the idea that every single gun transfer, including private ones, should be performed through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check system–are always at the top of every anti-gunner’s wishlist. There are a couple of very good reasons why: The first is that it doesn’t smell all that much like infringement, so many Second Amendment supporters are willing to consider it. The second reason why the gun-haters love “universal background checks” so much is that it won’t work–can’t work, in fact, not the way the system is set up now–and is doomed to fail. And that, dear readers, is the point.

That’s a bold claim, I know, so take a seat next to me on the Bold Claim Time Machine while we travel back to the year 2007. Some oxygen thief decided to murder a bunch of innocent college students at Virginia Tech, and the nation was in shock and mourning. In the aftermath of the massacre, we learned that the murderer had actually passed a background check to purchase his guns, despite the fact that he had been adjudicated mentally ill. The NICS system failed, and immediately the cry went up to fix the NICS system. Specifically, it needed funding to update the system with all of the non-felons who are still prohibited from buying guns.

The NRA, and many gun owners, had no problem with that. It fell under the category of “enforcing existing gun laws,” as well as “honoring due process,” so the NRA actually backed the ensuing legislation. Problem solved, right?

Wrong. As of today, 13 years after the Virginia Tech Massacre, the FBI is still failing to complete hundreds of thousands of gun checks. Because the legislation around the NICS check was written to replace the “waiting periods” of the 1990s, if the check hasn’t been completed by three business days, the gun seller may legally allow the sale. There are more details about how that’s supposed to work and why it currently is not working at that link, which I encourage you to read in full. When you do, you’ll be reminded of something horrible:

The miserable little smoker’s loogie who murdered a bunch of Charleston, S.C. churchgoers in 2015 passed a NICS check despite the fact that he had a felony record that should have prevented him from purchasing a gun.

This brings us to the next logical question: If we already know that the NICS system hasn’t been fixed in 13 years despite near-universal support from both sides of the political aisle, why the dip-dyed Hell are people talking about adding more of a burden to it by forcing hundreds of thousands of new gun transfers through it? And here’s the logical answer: Because the point of the whole thing is for it to fail. The anti-gunners are waiting with bated breath for it to fail, and for some other toe-rag to slip through that background check and do something horrible.

Because once it does, they can declare the NICS check permanently broken and start with their real agenda: passing increasingly restrictive and burdensome legislation (which also won’t work to stop crime) until New York City-style gun control is a nationwide reality. Good ol’ Francis “Hell Yes, We’re Coming For Your AR-15s” O’Rourke may be out of the race, but the remaining anti-gun candidates aren’t any better. They’re just a little bit smarter about not saying what they really want out loud.

 

 

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Trace Munson
Trace, a proud Special Farces who goes commando, is dedicated to pubic service. Although he's a legend among YouTube commenters, he actually began life as a humble dingleberry farmer. Now, no subject is too moist or sensitive for his incisive odor and scintillating lymph nodes.

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8 Comments

  1. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

    The truth and the solution, direct from our founders, is right there in the first 13 words of the 2nd Amendment. A militia, preferably a smoothly operating militia which is what “well regulated” means, is necessary to the security of a free state…. of existence!

    If you are an adult American citizen you ARE the militia. Fill in the blanks from there. The “2nd Amendment Sanctuaries” popping up everywhere are only the first step, because the ever so predictable left will use activist judges in their corrupt courts to try to render them “illegal” for holding true to the highest law of the land, the U.S. Constitution. And that is when We The People will have no choice but to form ourselves into militias to police our own neighborhoods and to keep order and so forth without any funding from the state or federal governments, because that is what will be necessary for We The People to retain our rights. Simple as that.

    When you see those militias being formed locally, join and support them to the best of your ability. because it is your duty as an American citizen to refuse to comply with unconstitutional law.

    “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” – Abraham Lincoln

  2. You have the crux of it. Individual sale background checks can be “universally dodged” by saying “I got it before the law passed.”
    The solution will be a “universal” registry.
    Soon after that, every time a cop finds a gun it will be “YOUR PAPERS PLEASE”!

  3. All a background check proves is you have never been caught/charged/convicted. It does not guarantee they buyer is not crazy, law breaker, violent, or what acts they are capable or committing.

  4. You kind of missed the most important danger of universal checks, They will be the beginning of the establishment of a registry. When the Government gets to the point when they begin to confiscate guns, they will have the names of everyone who owns a gun.

    1. Maybe people who do not have or intend to have a firearm should apply for a background check and make it a revenue matter, make it a money maker for spend thrift people in government, who do not ike to lose funds to waste…. Perhaps that would back the anti-guns idiots down?

  5. So what you are trying to say is that people who insist on subverting the constitution for their political gains can legally let their felon family members and associates get guns while trying to criminalize legal gun owners so they can’t have guns, say like a mayor of a major city…say like……um i don’t know Cleveland. OH……..

  6. Yep but the source is the voters.

    Until the voters get their minds out of their other end the problem will not be addressed in a sensible and workable manner.

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