coloradan: “I could go along with universal checks if the make, model, and serial number of the transferred firearm were not recorded on the form. But they are, so I am opposed.”
Is this true? I haven’t purchased guns from dealers. Does the government know exactly what was purchased? If so, why? What does that have to do with checking to see if the buyer is safe to own guns?
Myself? I’m not opposed to background checks on all gun transfers, including private ones. It would be hard to enforce private sales, but if I was selling a gun, I’d like to know the person I was selling it to wasn’t a nutjob. So government could maintain a list of criminals, mental patients, etc., who are not permitted to own a gun. Prospective buyers could be checked against that list without creating a national database of who purchased a gun and what was purchased.
I think the real issue here is we don’t trust government for obvious reasons. 100% gun registration means the government would know who has what. It’s a relatively simple jump from that to gun confiscation, and confiscation is unlikely to come all at once. They’ll do it bit by bit so it doesn’t create a confrontation with millions of owners all at once.
I'm pretty sure most FFLs will run the check on your buyer if you ask them to. I think the gov charges a small fee and the FFL might ask for a fee too but I'd bet most wouldn't. No need to put that on everyone to satisfy you.