Posted on 04/22/2008 5:13:26 AM PDT by marktwain
Hartford police officers recovered about 400 illegally acquired firearms last year. Those weapons didn't pop up out of thin air.
People who owned or had access to legal firearms either lost them or sold them to convicted criminals, the mentally ill and other people who were unauthorized to own guns.
Many violent urban crimes and college campus shootings could be prevented if Congress would pass laws to impose foolproof methods of stopping legal guns from getting into the wrong hands.
Unfortunately, efforts to pass such laws are often thwarted by the powerful National Rifle Association gun lobby on grounds that they would violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
A new national organization called Mayors Against Illegal Guns, whose members include Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez and Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, proposed a four-step legislative plan last week aimed at curbing the flow of illegal firearms in ways that do not raise Second Amendment issues.
Congress should take heed and act on the recommendations.
The mayors want Congress to stop gun-show sales of firearms to people without background checks; require checks on gun-shop employees; block gun dealers with revoked licenses from selling off their weapons stock; and bar people on the terrorist no-fly list from purchasing guns.
Elsewhere in the country, some states are beginning to follow Connecticut's example and are passing laws forcing gun owners to report lost or stolen weapons immediately. Others are considering laws to require criminal background checks on ammunition buyers and to place imprints on ammunition so as to better trace guns used in crimes.
Congress should take these matters up as well. Restricting illegal gun traffic is a law enforcement issue, not a Second Amendment issue.
How many criminals get their guns from shows, I wonder. I’d think it wouldn’t be that many.
Buy now before the elections.
Agh, should I laugh or cry? Sure, just stop the illegal guns and the crime problems will go away.
Yeah, and if frogs had wings they wouldn't have to go bouncing around the pavement on their ass.
Weapons can't even be kept out of maximum-security prisons.
Ptooie.
Why it is that illegal aliens are “good” but illegal guns are “bad” is beyond me.
“People who owned or had access to legal firearms either lost them or sold them to convicted criminals, the mentally ill and other people who were unauthorized to own guns.”
Lost or sold? How about stolen, or is that lumped in under “lost”?
90% + of legal guns in the wrong hands arrive there via theft and home invasions. The media wants us to believe that criminals purchase them at gun stores and gun shows.
Well, if we had any shows here in CT in the first place, I'd wager a guess, but we have very few to begin with. That said, the few I have gone to here in CT weren't populated by the gang-banger thugs that typically use these "illegal guns."
And don't forget to stock up on ammo.
The mayors group is a front for Bloomburg, entirely funded by him.
THis is about outlawing private sales, and making every gun transaction subject to govt scrutiny: registration IOW.
I have often urged our lawmakers to make one simple change that would solve the handgun sales issue and the fear of a Government seizure of privately-owned firearms: When someone gets a driver’s license, do a simple background check and put, on the license, whether the person is authorized to purchase a gun or not. Then sellers—whether pawnshops, stores, or individuals—could simply ask to see the person’s driver’s license before selling them a gun and, if the license is so stamped, selling the weapon would come with severe criminal penalties.
Foolproof systems fail to take into account the ingenuity of fools.
The DOJ says it's about 0.7%
I'd be curious to see what this list looks like. I've read many stories of people, children even, with common names like "David Thompson" or "John Miller" getting stopped at the gates because their names appear on this list.
Hey, if we can't stop illegal aliens from entering or continuing to live and commit crimes in the U.S., why should we even bother with "illegal gun sales?"
My family has been involved with gunshows for over 50 years. My father was a founder of the Empire State Arms Collectors Association. I can tell you with no uncertainty that you will be very hard pressed today to even find a show anywhere in the USA where you can buy a gun without a background check. Why? Because it is pretty much imposible to get liability insurance, at any price, these days for a show that will allow ownership transfers without a check. Also, most all show promoters are businesses and they don’t want to be seen as condoning or facilitating anything appearing even remotely questionable or illegal. In fact, the security at most shows these days are usually hired off duty or retired local/county/state, and federal members of law enforcement.
I'd guess that a prime way would be to get their girlfriends to buy for them
Does anybody around here even know of anyone who has "lost" a firearm?
I would also like to see the statistics of how many law-abiding gun owners have privately sold guns that were later used by the person who bought the gun to commit a crime, because I bet that number is also very low.
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