NRA News Commentators | Dana Loesch: "Obama: Commander in
Deceit”
And from The Daily Signal -
What Obama Got Wrong on Guns
Genevieve Wood /
President Barack Obama made some interesting claims over the
past week about why America needs more gun control.
We take a look at some of his statements to see how they
stand up to the facts.
10 Myths about guns
10 Myths About Guns
Sen. Chuck Grassley /
This week, President Barack Obama announced executive
actions related to guns. Here are 10 common myths about
firearms.
Myth No. 1: Firearm purchases at gun shows do
not require a background check due to the “gun show loophole.”
Facts:
When the president and others refer to the “gun show loophole,”
they imply that there are no background checks being done at gun
shows. As a result, much of the public has been misinformed and are
led to believe that individuals who purchase firearms at gun shows
are not subject to a background check.
In reality, there is no “gun show loophole.” If an individual
wants to purchase a firearm from a licensed firearms retailer,
which typically makes up the majority of vendors at gun shows, the
individual must fill out the requisite federal firearms paperwork
and undergo a National Instant Criminal Background Check System
(NICS) background check.
The only firearms that are being purchased at gun shows without
a background check are those being bought and sold between
individuals, peer-to-peer, as opposed to buying a firearm from a
gun dealer. These private sales are not at all different from
selling a personal hunting rifle to the owner’s niece or nephew
down the road. It is a private sale, and no background paperwork is
required. The gun is private property, and the sale is made like a
sale of the family’s good silver. The one difference is that the
locus of a gun show is being used to make the private sale.
Under current law, an individual is permitted to occasionally
sell part, or all, of his personal firearms
collection. These private sellers, however, cannot be “engaged
in the business” of selling firearms. “Engaged in the
business” means they can’t repeatedly sell firearms with the
principal objective of earning funds to support themselves. Some of
the individuals who wish to sell a portion, or all, of their
personal firearms collection do so at the show and might display
their wares on a table. These “private table sales,” however,
are private, peer-to-peer sales and, therefore, do not require a
background check. The president cannot change criminal
statutes governing requirements for which sellers must conduct
background checks. His new actions don’t do so and don’t claim to
do so.
In a peer-to-peer, private firearms transaction, it is already
illegal to sell a firearm to another individual if the seller
“knows or has reasonable cause to believe” that the buyer meets any
of the prohibited categories for possession of a firearm (felon,
fugitive, illegal alien, etc.).
Myth No. 2: Gun shows lack any law enforcement
presence and are a free-for-all for felons and other prohibited
individuals to obtain firearms.
Fact:
Local, state and federal law enforcement are often present both
in uniform and/or covertly in plain clothes to monitor and
intervene in suspected unlawful firearms sales such as straw
purchasing; purchases made by prohibited individuals, including
non-residents; and the attempted sale of any illegal firearms.
Myth No. 3: Individuals who purchase
firearms on the Internet are not subject to background checks.
Facts:
An individual cannot purchase a firearm directly from a
firearms retailer over the Internet and have that firearm shipped
to him directly. An individual can pay for the firearm over
the Internet at websites and online sporting goods
retailers. The firearm, however, must be picked up from a
federal firearms licensee, such as a gun store. In many cases,
this is the brick-and-mortar store associated with the website
where the gun purchase was made. Once at the retail store, the
Internet purchaser must then fill out the requisite forms,
including ATF Form 4473, which initiates the NICS background check
process. Thus, an Internet purchase of a firearm from a firearms
retailer requires a background check.
Individuals from the same state are able to advertise and
purchase firearms from one another and use the Internet to
facilitate the transaction. It is unlawful, under current law,
to sell or transfer a firearm to an individual who is out of
state. Any Internet sale, even between individuals, that
crosses state lines would have to utilize a federal firearms
licensee, such as a gun store, and the purchaser would be required
to fill out the requisite state and federal paperwork and would
undergo a background check.
Myth No. 4: The president’s Jan. 5
executive action on gun control represents landmark change
regarding gun control.
Facts:
With few exceptions, Obama’s executive action on firearms is
nothing more than rhetoric regarding the status quo. Many
senators have long argued for better and more robust enforcement of
existing laws that prohibit criminals from owning guns.
It is the current law of the land that anyone engaged in the
business of selling firearms must have a federal firearms
license. The president’s action does not change current law,
but merely restates existing court rulings on the meaning of
“engaged in the business.”
Myth No. 5: The Obama administration has made
firearms enforcement a priority.
Facts:
The Obama administration has used its limited criminal
enforcement resources to focus on clemency for convicted and
imprisoned felons, the investigation of police departments, and
civil rights cases. The latter two categories represent important
work, but the Department of Justice lost track of one of its core
missions of enforcing criminal law: prosecuting violent criminals,
including gun criminals.
The Obama administration is only now making firearms
enforcement a priority. Clearly, enforcing the gun laws is a new
initiative, or one of the president’s actions would not have been
informing all of the 93 U.S. attorneys about it.
Proof of this lack of enforcement is revealed in the decline of
weapons-related prosecutions during the Obama
administration. As data obtained from the Executive Office of
United States Attorneys, through a Freedom of Information Act
request, reveal, firearms prosecutions are down approximately 25
percent under the Obama administration versus the last year of the
Bush administration.
Myth No. 6: Mental health has nothing to
do with gun control.
Facts:
People with certain levels of mental illness are not permitted
to own guns. Many of the recent mass killings were committed by
mentally ill individuals. One of the keys to preventing further
mass shootings and violence committed with firearms is addressing
the issue of mental health.
Background checks to prevent the mentally ill from obtaining
guns can work only if states provide mental health records to the
NICS system. Too many states have failed to do so. Many of the
worst offenders are states with the most stringent gun control
laws. For multiple years now, many members of Congress have
repeatedly called for and introduced legislation that would provide
incentives for states to submit their mental health records for
inclusion in the NICS database.
Myth No. 7: Obama’s executive action on gun
control will thwart criminals’ ability to obtain firearms.
Facts:
The president’s executive action regarding firearms is focused
primarily on individuals who attempt to purchase firearms through
the background check process.
Criminals, however, obtain firearms in myriad illegal ways,
including home invasion robbery; trading narcotics for firearms;
burglary of homes, vehicles, and businesses; and straw
purchasing.
My legislation,
Senate Amendment 725, was specifically designed to combat
the straw purchasing of firearms as well as firearms traffickers
who transfer firearms to prohibited individuals and out-of-state
residents.
Myth No. 8: There is a general consensus
in America that greater gun control is needed to prevent mass
shootings in the United States.
Facts:
Despite the president’s statement to the contrary, polls have
shown that the majority of Americans do not believe that stricter
gun control would reduce the number of mass shootings in the United
States.
The American public does not believe that making it harder for
law-abiding Americans to obtain guns makes America safer. In
fact, polls
have shown that a majority of Americans thinks the United
States would be safer if there were more individuals licensed and
trained to carry concealed weapons. A majority opposes
re-imposition of the “assault weapons” ban.
Myth No. 9: The terrorist “no-fly” list is
a proper mechanism to bar Americans from purchasing firearms.
—Obama, Jan. 5
Fact:
The no-fly list is actually multiple lists, which are generated
in secret and controlled by executive branch bureaucrats. The
Second Amendment right to bear arms has been determined by the U.S.
Supreme Court to be a fundamental right. This puts the right to
bear arms in our most closely guarded rights, similar to the rights
to free speech and freedom of religion. It is unconstitutional to
deprive an American citizen of his Second Amendment right
without notice and an opportunity to be heard.
Myth No. 10: Gun retailers need to step up and
refuse to sell semi-automatic weapons. —Obama, Jan. 5
Fact:
There is nothing unlawful about a semi-automatic firearm. A
semi-automatic firearm simply means that a round is discharged with
each pull of the trigger. These include most shotguns used for
waterfowl hunting and rifles commonly used for target
shooting.
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