OPINION QUESTION: Do you think background checks work?

Exactly. Most of the guns I own were bought through private party sales specifically for that reason.

Even should it turn out later in life that one you own was stolen at some point or used in a crime that responsibility does’t fall on you either legally or morally.

I do however keep a list of everyone I’ve bought from including the make, model, and serial number of the weapon.

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And date. The same with everything I sell. And signatures.

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Background checks work for the truthful and law abiding. After that all bets are off.

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I’m not replying to anyone specifically I’m reply to the subject matter. I’m from Chicago South Side originally happy to be away from the city. They call it in street talk The High Hundreds. I know there’s houses in Chitown in my old neighborhood and surrounding that are better stocked with guns and ammo than some gun shops. It’s a sad remembrance of my earlier life in my opinion. I could bring you and when you get what you want you don’t need to give any background checks or any ID, cash is id. No cooling off period, no nothing. I did not like my neighborhood but it’s just where I grew up is all. If politicians were serious about shootings in Chicago or anywhere else (all politicians) be it Federal, State, County, City. To stop gun crime they need to, they must, They Must Stop The Flow Of Illegal Drugs. Otherwise I call BS on their efforts at guns. Many politicians get kickbacks from the gangs. Shut off drugs, shut off kickbacks then the so-called gun problems cease.

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I have been saying for a decade that fully half of career politicians are corrupt to the point of treason. I have had a very hard time convincing anyone of this however. My guess is that if they were TRULY investigated many would be spending the rest of their lives incarcerated.

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I have been saying for years that if you truly want change stop electing career politicians!

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A Rose by any other name… Right you are. The biggest problems I see are Government FAILURES in getting people who are NOT allowed to buy ON THE LIST. Several of the shootings over the past two years were “Prohibited Persons” who LIED on their 4473’s AND the Government had FAILED to POST the disqualifying status. The Church shooting in Texas was one… the shooter had been convicted of domestic violence but the Air Force failed to input the info to NICS… It’s happened way too often. The shooting at Marjorie Stoneman HS in FLA was another. The shooter was a KNOWN threat, had been a problem for several YEARS yet LEO’s not only let him on campus they HID from him… There should be major fines for anyone who does not post disqualifying information in a timely manner… like 48hrs MAX. But how do you stop a shooter who kills his own mother and steals her guns to shoot up a school? No “Glory” in the media, NO name usage, a quiet trial and a public hanging. NO MORE NICE executions… make it public, it should be the first time folks learn what they did, make it something you don’t want to experience, EVER. The concept of “cruel and inhumane” punishment should NOT be applied to Death sentences for heinous crimes. They used to hang horse thieves, and folks avoided (for the most part) stealing horses… still works today. As to those who claim it’s not a deterrent?? I’ll bet THAT perpetrator never does it again… mark them “Deterred”!

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Going back to the Founding… “Those who will trade their rights for the promise of safety deserve neither!” which boils down to “Cowards need not apply!”. America was founded by people of strong convictions who had enough backbone to STAND while others HID. They are being called upon NOW.

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Nationwide half of all crime is related to drugs in one way or another and in the cities which are most violent as much as 85-95% of the violent crime is directly related to the illicit drug trade and gangs.

Till we get serious about dealing with both all the laws in the world aren’t going to have any significant impact on crime.

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@WildRose That is correct Charles

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No background checks do not work. Criminals, terrorists, and illegal immigrants do not legally obtain firearms. Mental health checks might be more helpful as another screening tool but by itself, it too cannot deter let alone stop violent crimes.

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I do not think they work. Too many guns end up in the hands of those who would fail a background check…were they to subject themselves to such a check.

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Here is another thought. Who cares if they work or not?

“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.”

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We quickly get into very dangerous ground with “mental health checks”.

You can probably find a majority of psychologists and psychiatrists that would agree that anyone who thinks they need a gun has at best questionable mental stability.

You also quickly would find that people who do need help would start avoiding seeking help for even mild emotional/psychological issues out of fear of losing their Right to Keep and bear.

We already have laws that if enforced would identify, disqualify, and get people who are in serious need of treatment into same.

We do need to do some work as far as getting people forcibly committed and keeping them committed when they are dangerous.

Due to a series of court decisions in the sixties, seventies, and eighties it’s impossible to keep those who can be managed with counseling and medication under involuntary supervision or forced committals because as soon as they are declared to no longer be a threat they have to be released. Psychotics and Schizophrenics then tend to quickly get off of their meds and become dangerous again.

The answer is not infringing on the rights of the sane and law abiding and that’s basically all that is being proposed by the anti gun left as far as dealing with the mental health issue.

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Individuals who are disqualified legally are not “The People”. “The People is the Whole of us” and all rights may be lost through due process.

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I do no think that background checks work. People change & do conceal evil motives & intentions. The human factor will always bring a degree of uncertainty. I don’t believe passing a background check makes one “good” just like failing a background check doesn’t mean someone is “evil.” :v:t5:

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But just this past week there were TWO stories about “Antigun” people committing murders using a gun? If they’re soooo anti WHY do they HAVE ONE? Both were determined to be mentally unstable, and both were DEMS…

Am I the only person who would like to see this looked at in a more focused manner? ARE Anti-gun fanatics mentally unstable? Is there a provable, statistical, verifiable, probability matrix? If there IS we already have ONE avenue to reduce gun violence. Red-Flag them ALL until they have been given a “Clean-Bill”! Since people of dubious mental capacity might vote for things that are NOT in the Nations interest due to their “suggestibility”… maybe they should sit out the next election as well.

I only bring this to the fore based upon the Good Of The Nation… (Sarcasm Off) But you KNOW THEY would do it to all of US if they thought they could get away with it, and are in fact trying to!

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I think the fact they have been identified as having serious mental/emotional issues answers your first question.

As to the 2nd I seriously doubt you could find any data to support the contention that mental illness and anti gun sentiments can be show to have a cause/effect relationship.

I do think a great many of the anti gun activists imagine all the bad things they might do with a gun if they had one though due to a lack of maturity and self control and that they project those fears/feelings onto the rest of us.

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Check out this Fact Check from CNN about background checks! It’s not pro-gun, but it shows the truth about how background checks won’t necessarily change a thing:

From the August 5, 2019 article:

I agree with you. I’ve attended quite a few gun shows here in Colorado and I’ve seen signs go up stating that if you failed a background check there is a restocking fee. I stopped to ask some of the dealers this. They said that they were getting a lot of people who couldn’t pass the background check. So in some cases it does help.

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