I will get back to gear, firearms and defensive mindset posts soon, but, for now I want to touch on a topic that seems to be coming up in the news a lot these days is the idea of implementing "universal background checks" for firearms. In most (but not all) states there is a provision where someone who is legally allowed to own a firearm can buy or sell a firearm to another individual who is also allowed to possess it without the need to go through a NCIC background check. Be advised that laws vary from state to state, and before you are going to buy or sell a firearm through a private transfer you should make sure it is legal to do so. Interstate private transactions are also generally prohibited, and must be done through a dealer, at additional costs to the involved parties.
This is sometimes referred to as the "gun show loophole" even though most guns sold at gun shows are bought from FFL dealers, who must run a background check in order to complete the sale. Every gun I have ever bought at a gun show has had the same background check and paperwork as those bought at gun stores. If someone is selling firearms as a business, they must be a federal firearms licensee (FFL), and must conduct background checks for all sales.
In many parts of the country, private transfers are common. Giving .22 rifles and shotguns as birthday or Christmas gifts when a child shows the maturity to own them is a right of passage for many people. Firearms are passed down as family heirlooms through generations of a family. Hunting or shooting buddies may trade firearms if they need a certain type for an upcoming hunt.
Requiring all of those transactions to go through FFLs is going to add expense to all of them for the persons involved. Aside from that, the NCIC system has in recent times become overwhelmed, on days such as Black Friday there have been hours long delays on the background checks. How is the system going to support all of the additional transactions? Do the systems even have the capability of taking on the additional course load? Is there going to be an option available to do the transfer without an FFL, giving private citizens the ability to call in a NCIC background check?
Aside from worries about the infrastructure that would have to support the new workload, there are other issues. Contrary to what some people believe, there is no registration of guns in most states. After the gun is bought the dealer keeps the paperwork and records. There are actually federal laws, including the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986, that prohibit the creation of a registration of privately owned firearms. But, how can you enforce a requirement that all private transfers must go through a transfer requiring a background check without having a registration? There is no way to regulate it without a registration, which according to law is not allowed.
Even if the laws were amended to allow for a registration of privately owned firearms, there are by many estimates around 300 million firearms in America. Who is going to build and maintain the database with all of that information in it? How long is it going to take in order to get all that information collected? That project would be a massive undertaking. And criminals still would not register their guns, and would not conduct transfers through a FFL. So the new laws wouldn't effect them at all, they would continue to operate outside the law.
While I do agree that some people should be prohibited from owning firearms, including convicted felons and those who have been adjudicated mentally defective, I don't think that universal background checks are the answer. It is already illegal for convicted felons, those who have been adjudicated mentally defective, and some other classes of people to own firearms. They will just continue to attain them through illegal means, including stealing them, or buying them from someone who stole them from a law abiding gun owner. The idea of "universal background checks" like most gun control legislation, is a feel good idea that will only negatively effect law abiding gun owners, while criminals ignore it.
