Congress is seriously considering Universal Background Checks Gun Registration as a “common-sense” gun control measure. I contend that there is nothing “common-sense” about this legislative proposal. Here are 8 documented Facts- Not Feelings that explain why.
Myth: Universal Background Checks Gun Registration will make it more difficult for criminals to get guns
FACT: Criminals do not typically use legally purchased guns. The FBI reports: According to the 1997 Survey of State Prison Inmates, among those possessing a gun, the source of the gun was from –
- a flea market or gun show for fewer than 2%
- a retail store or pawnshop for about 12%
- family, friends, a street buy, or an illegal source for 80%
Myth: Universal Background Checks Gun Registration would have prevented mass shootings over the past year.
FACT: Most mass murderers do not have criminal records or a history of psychiatric hospitalization. They would not be disqualified from purchasing their weapons legally. Certainly, people cannot be denied their Second Amendment rights just because they look strange or act in an odd manner. Besides, mass killers could always find an alternative way of securing the needed weaponry, even if they had to steal from family members or friends. ( The Chronicle of Higher Education , December 2012 )
Myth: Universal Background Checks Gun Registration will keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of these madmen.
FACT: The DOJ memo competed in January 2013 (but not officially acknowledged by the Obama Administration) “Summary of Select Firearm Violence Prevention Strategies “….
“Fatalities from mass shootings (those with 4 or more victims in a particular place and time) account on average for 35 fatalities per year. Policies that address the larger firearm homicide issue will have a far greater impact even if they do not address the particular issues of mass shootings issue will have a far greater impact even if they do not address the particular issues of mass shootings.”
FACT: Registration lists turned into confiscation lists in New York City and California.