Stop Illegal Gun Sales

Harford Courant ^ | 21 April 2008 | Editorial

[marktwain]

Anti-gun silliness from the Hartford Courant. Comments are easy to make, though, and don't seem to require registration.

[Slapshot68]

How many criminals get their guns from shows, I wonder. I’d think it wouldn’t be that many.

[bmwcyle]

Buy now before the elections.

[mtbopfuyn]

Agh, should I laugh or cry? Sure, just stop the illegal guns and the crime problems will go away.

[DuncanWaring]

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.

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.

[yantis]

Why it is that illegal aliens are “good” but illegal guns are “bad” is beyond me.

[Hacklehead]

“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”?

[mad_as_he$$]

Typically guns are too expensive at gun shows and tables are run by dealers. The occasional private citizen sale does happen but I not seen a table full of clearly low end cheap guns intended for sale to criminals for years. BTW I do not understand headline if all the requirements are met then it is not illegal. I am not a shrink but I can generally pick crazy out of a crowd. I have refused to sell guns to some people who tried to buy them because my crazy meter was pegged. In Kalifornia private sales are not allowed without an license dealer. Are they any better are controlling who the gun is sold to? Many crazies or criminals are not in the system and fly right through the back round check. I had a back round check held up about 10 years ago and was visited by the State Police because I was not in the system. Made them suspicious. Immediately after they cleared the sale I petitioned the court to remove the record which was granted.

[Eurale]

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.

[Andonius_99]

How many criminals get their guns from shows, I wonder. I’d think it wouldn’t be that many.

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."

[cowboyway]

Buy now before the elections.

And don't forget to stock up on ammo.

[Travis McGee]

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.

[Hootowl]

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.

[Hardastarboard]

if Congress would pass laws to impose foolproof methods of stopping legal guns from getting into the wrong hands

Foolproof systems fail to take into account the ingenuity of fools.

[P8riot]

How many criminals get their guns from shows, I wonder. I’d think it wouldn’t be that many.

The DOJ says it's about 0.7%

[Drew68]

and bar people on the terrorist no-fly list from purchasing guns.

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.

[zerosix]

"Stop Illegal Gun Sales"

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?"

[SirFishalot]

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.

[PapaBear3625]

How many criminals get their guns from shows, I wonder. I’d think it wouldn’t be that many.

I'd guess that a prime way would be to get their girlfriends to buy for them

[wagglebee]

Lost or sold? How about stolen, or is that lumped in under “lost”?

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.