Posted on 04/22/2008 5:13:26 AM PDT by marktwain
Hartford police officers recovered about 400 illegally acquired firearms last year. Those weapons didn't pop up out of thin air.
People who owned or had access to legal firearms either lost them or sold them to convicted criminals, the mentally ill and other people who were unauthorized to own guns.
Many violent urban crimes and college campus shootings could be prevented if Congress would pass laws to impose foolproof methods of stopping legal guns from getting into the wrong hands.
Unfortunately, efforts to pass such laws are often thwarted by the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby on grounds that they would violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
A new national organization called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, whose members include Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, proposed a four-step legislative plan last week aimed at curbing the flow of illegal firearms in ways that do not raise Second Amendment issues.
Congress should take heed and act on the recommendations.
The mayors want Congress to stop gun-show sales of firearms to people without background checks; require checks on gun-shop employees; block gun dealers with revoked licenses from selling off their weapons stock; and bar people on the terrorist no-fly list from purchasing guns.
Elsewhere in the country, some states are beginning to follow Connecticut's example and are passing laws forcing gun owners to report lost or stolen weapons immediately. Others are considering laws to require criminal background checks on ammunition buyers and to place imprints on ammunition so as to better trace guns used in crimes.
Congress should take these matters up as well. Restricting illegal gun traffic is a law enforcement issue, not a Second Amendment issue.
How many criminals get their guns from shows, I wonder. I’d think it wouldn’t be that many.
Buy now before the elections.
Agh, should I laugh or cry? Sure, just stop the illegal guns and the crime problems will go away.
Yeah, and if frogs had wings they wouldn't have to go bouncing around the pavement on their ass.
Weapons can't even be kept out of maximum-security prisons.
Ptooie.
Why it is that illegal aliens are “good” but illegal guns are “bad” is beyond me.
“People who owned or had access to legal firearms either lost them or sold them to convicted criminals, the mentally ill and other people who were unauthorized to own guns.”
Lost or sold? How about stolen, or is that lumped in under “lost”?
90% + of legal guns in the wrong hands arrive there via theft and home invasions. The media wants us to believe that criminals purchase them at gun stores and gun shows.
Well, if we had any shows here in CT in the first place, I'd wager a guess, but we have very few to begin with. That said, the few I have gone to here in CT weren't populated by the gang-banger thugs that typically use these "illegal guns."
And don't forget to stock up on ammo.
The mayors group is a front for Bloomburg, entirely funded by him.
THis is about outlawing private sales, and making every gun transaction subject to govt scrutiny: registration IOW.
I have often urged our lawmakers to make one simple change that would solve the handgun sales issue and the fear of a Government seizure of privately-owned firearms: When someone gets a driver’s license, do a simple background check and put, on the license, whether the person is authorized to purchase a gun or not. Then sellers—whether pawnshops, stores, or individuals—could simply ask to see the person’s driver’s license before selling them a gun and, if the license is so stamped, selling the weapon would come with severe criminal penalties.
Foolproof systems fail to take into account the ingenuity of fools.
The DOJ says it's about 0.7%
I'd be curious to see what this list looks like. I've read many stories of people, children even, with common names like "David Thompson" or "John Miller" getting stopped at the gates because their names appear on this list.
Hey, if we can't stop illegal aliens from entering or continuing to live and commit crimes in the U.S., why should we even bother with "illegal gun sales?"
My family has been involved with gunshows for over 50 years. My father was a founder of the Empire State Arms Collectors Association. I can tell you with no uncertainty that you will be very hard pressed today to even find a show anywhere in the USA where you can buy a gun without a background check. Why? Because it is pretty much imposible to get liability insurance, at any price, these days for a show that will allow ownership transfers without a check. Also, most all show promoters are businesses and they don’t want to be seen as condoning or facilitating anything appearing even remotely questionable or illegal. In fact, the security at most shows these days are usually hired off duty or retired local/county/state, and federal members of law enforcement.
I'd guess that a prime way would be to get their girlfriends to buy for them
Does anybody around here even know of anyone who has "lost" a firearm?
I would also like to see the statistics of how many law-abiding gun owners have privately sold guns that were later used by the person who bought the gun to commit a crime, because I bet that number is also very low.
I don't know where you live, but in Nebraska, we have to have 'simple background checks' to get a permit to allow us to purchase handguns and those take three days. Can you imagine telling your 16 y/o kid they have to wait three days to get their license once they pass their driver's test?
Bingo!
I was recently at the local sheriffs office to renew my CCW. While there a young black woman came in with her gansta boyfriend. She went to the window and as she spoke to the clerk, the gansta boyfriend was mouthing the words they had rehearsed to himself.
If the clerk had questioned the arrangement, I'm sure it would have been racial profiling. For the gun store clerk that may eventually sell her a weapon it will be a federal crime.
I agree, and the easiest way is to void all laws that interfere with gun sales hence making all sales legal.
You should trumpet this simple set of FACTS to as many people as possible. Especially politicians (many times to them, it takes a while for actual facts to penetrate their “ I’m in charge, I know everything!” pea-sized brains) as they are the ones trying to shut down what can pry them out of office. I’m not surprised that liability and insurance trumps criminal activity. Maybe if we required politicians to be personally liable for their actions...no that would eliminate most Poli...ANOTHER GREAT IDEA !!!insure them out of business!!
I understand having their girlfriends buy the guns, but what good does it do to have their girlfriend get a CCW permit?
My guess is that nearly all of the people who rail against gun shows have never been to a gun show. Here in Virginia we hear all the time about a “gun show loophole” that DOESN’T EVEN EXIST.
“I understand having their girlfriends buy the guns, but what good does it do to have their girlfriend get a CCW permit?”
Some states I think require a CCW to purchase ammo. It’s at the very least the appearance of a straw purchase.
First words from me...."Straw purchases are a federal crime, are you sure you want to fill out this form?".
This gun show loophole crap does not even exist in Pennsylvania. If you sell a personal handgun at a gunshow to another private buyer you have to go to one of the tables and get a background check done there at a minimal cost ( 5 - 10 bucks) before completing the purchase. I suppose you could just sell it without the background check, but then again you can do that without the gunshow also and it’s illegal.
What more laws do these anti gunnuts want?
Okay, that makes sense.
Requiring more cooperation from those who won’t cooperate won’t work.
Crack is illegal everywhere in this country, has to be imported, faces a “war on drugs”, yet is available to anyone who wants it within about 2 hours.
“When someone gets a driver’s license, do a simple background check and put, on the license, whether the person is authorized to purchase a gun or not.”
No offense, but that’s really a stupid idea.
Please tell me how by having your drivers license “stamped” that you cannot own or possess a firearm will stop the “...fear of a Government seizure of privately-owned firearms..”?
What about non-drivers? Your papers, please.
The last thing we need is one more gun law added to the 22,000+ on the books already.
Some states require a permit to own things (by serial number), not just carry them. She buys, he uses.
That's another way for the gangsta to be effectively armed -- have the girlfriend have a CCW and carry the gun for him, then hand it to him when he needs it
So he can have the girlfriend drive around with him and hold onto the gun until he needs it
Sorry I wasn't clear. NC requires a handgun permit or a valid CCW to buy a handgun. The same window at the office handles both.
To purchase a handgun without a CCW in NC requires a visit to the sheriffs office, you fill out a form with your info, they run a background check and you pick up your permit to purchase in about a week. You can get up to five at a time and the cost is $5 each. They are valid for five years as I recall. They can only deny the permit if you have a criminal record, or you admit to a drug addiction or mental defect.
With a CCW you can buy all you want. woohoo! It does make life easier, though it would be nicer to live in a free state.
Just take a look at England where handguns are tightly controlled. Now they have begun regulating all types of knives and even cricket bats. Sticks & Rocks are next.
When the current Uganda regime overthrew the previous, angry citizens attacked the retreating defeated army. Some soldiers were beaten to death with junk automobile shock absorbers.
You cannot prevent access to everything that someone might use to inflict harm on another. You can make the penalties for doing so very, very odious. Then you frequently remind folks that if you do this, YOU will suffer. Every time!
Breaking rocks for the rest of your life for Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio would be a starting place. Between breaking rocks you are growing your own food. “No veggie, no eatie”.
“Guns shouldn’t be where they can be stolen”
So you have invented an impenetrable force field?
Only if they're clumsy enough to make it obvious. One girl with a clean record can just go store to store and buy up enough to equip the whole gang.
Which is why all these restrictions are silly. If a guy is too dangerous to be allowed to own a gun, then he's too dangerous to be allowed to walk the streets
“Guns shouldn’t be where they can be stolen”
Neither should cars, TV sets, stereos, cameras, wallets, jewelry, your identity, etc.
Get real! ANYTHING, kept ANY PLACE remotely accessible, CAN BE STOLEN!
Yes. Where I used to work, a female security guard left her weapon in the stall in the ladies room. When she finally realized her mistake, the gun was gone.
AMEN
I figured that somebody knew of an instance, but I have a feeling that it is an extremely rare event.
That's easy to explain.
Illegal aliens vote Democrat, illegal guns don't.
Off to walmart at lunch to do the payday spending.
A distinction without a difference.
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