Posted on 02/19/2019 7:42:58 AM PST by gattaca
This week, to coincide with the anniversary of the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the U.S. House is scheduled to begin mark-up on a gun control bill that, if passed, would have done nothing to stop the shooting.
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, or H.R. 8, does not target criminals or those intent on breaking the law. Instead, it curtails the normal, law-abiding behavior of everyday gun owners. Worse, anti-gun advocates are deceptively marketing this legislation as a “safety” bill that will keep guns away from dangerous people.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Universal background checks will never truly be universal because criminals do not comply with the law. This legislation will not change criminal behavior — it will simply make illegal normal behavior that can, in fact, save lives.
As a rape survivor, I know firsthand the need for self-defense against an attacker with a weapon, and I find it particularly helpful in my own journey of healing to instruct women in how to use a firearm and empower themselves so they never become victims. I have a standing notice to my personal network, that if they want firearm safety and instruction, I am willing to provide that to them at no cost.
A few months ago, a close friend took me up on that offer, and we headed out to a local gun range where I taught her how to shoot. I remember the giant smile on her face when she realized she hit her intended target. I was proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone to learn a new, important skill.
If H.R. 8 had been enacted, and I had lent my friend that firearm to go back to the range and continue her education, I would have committed a crime punishable by up to $1,000 in fines or one year in prison. That’s because the bill makes it illegal for someone to hand over possession of their firearm to most other people — even if they know the person well. Further, innocent mistakes would not be excused under this law. A person would not have to know they were committing a crime in order to be prosecuted.
Most upsetting, however, is that anti-gun advocates claim that such legislation will make Americans safer when it’s clear the legislation ignores the realities of crime in our country.
H.R. 8 will not stop criminals from stealing firearms, getting them on the black market or buying them through straw purchasers. It would also have failed to prevent any of the recent mass shootings. The majority of mass shooters in modern history have passed a background check — so it wouldn’t have stopped them. And those who didn’t purchase their firearms, stole them — so it wouldn’t have stopped them, either.
We need real solutions for crime in this country, and we need to stop vilifying firearms and firearm owners. Anti-gun politicians love to point the finger at law-abiding gun owners while ignoring the larger problems that get at the root cause of crime. It’s shameful, it doesn’t help anyone and it needs to stop.
Floridians should encourage their representatives to vote against H.R. 8. It’s important that all Floridians understand what this piece of legislation is really about, and whom it actually will impact.
Shayna Lopez-Rivas is a Florida gun-rights advocate based in Tallahassee.
Let’s say that a magic button could be pushed, and all guns would disappear. Then what? Would all these mass killing stop?
Yes they would. Until some psychopath learned what a Molotov cocktail was. Then I guess the conversation would turn to banning gasoline.
And Democrats don’t want illegals who try to buy a gun to be reported to ICE.
If anyone thinks that if all law-abiding citizens give up their weapons the government will then keep us all safe probably also believes in the Tooth Fairy and then Easter Bunny.
Anyone with an IQ high enough to enable them to tie their shoes without assistance knows that by definition criminals break laws. Imposing additional laws for a criminal to break is a fairly good example of futility. Does anyone really think a criminal prepared to commit multiple counts of felonies such as murder is going to give a rats backside about background checks, magazine capacity, or silly "gun free zone" signs? If you do, I've got this bridge in AZ I need to unload quick... Actually, the signs might help the criminal select places where he/she can find collections of relatively defenseless potential victims, so they might like the signs.
Look, I'm not saying this background check law is useless. I am saying all "gun control" laws are useless. Words on a piece of paper, a computer screen, or a sign on a door do not stop anyone intent on evil.
That's because Leaning Right is right. Even without firearms, people intent on hurting their fellow man will turn to other means - fists, numbers, knives, clubs, trucks... The government cannot legislate safety - we cannot live in a padded cocoon. People need to wake up and realize the government can't nanny them, they actually have to take a little responsibility themselves.
The recently ‘fixed’ UBC law in NV per SB 143 wouldn’t have stopped the Mandalay Bay shooting either but, matters not, because it makes someone “feel” better because they ‘did something’.
The rulers do not want the peasants to even think about refusing the impositions of the nobles, let alone have any capability to do so.
It’s worse than that. It essentially outlaws private sales
On my list of things that “will then keep us all safe” government is on the second page.
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