WASHINGTON POST: …The NRA’s recent successes on Capitol Hill — as well as a string of victories in state legislatures across the country — demonstrate the effectiveness of the group’s strategy to overcome a post-Newtown tilt toward gun control. The organization has drafted and circulated legislation, mobilized its members and continued to put pressure on politically vulnerable lawmakers. At the same time, groups attempting to promote stricter gun- control measures have faltered.
New restrictions that a couple of months ago seemed possible, even likely, such as bans on assault weapons and universal background checks on gun purchases, are now in doubt.
“The NRA is one of the most important groups in my state,” said [Sen. Mark] Begich, one of several Democrats from conservative states who are up for reelection next year. He and others like him are the swing voters in the gun debate in the Senate, where deliberation over new legislation is expected to begin this month… (more)
I have no serious problem with a background check. I cannot support one that doubles as a gun registration database, nor one that does not allow me to sell my property, or pass it on to my children, nor one that allows the police to confiscate a firearm without a judges order.
If the law requires one to get a background check within one year prior to taking ownership of a firearm that may be acceptable, and having the background check recipient be required to keep the approved background check form seems reasonable.
But before any of this should be considered, political jurisdictions should be required to be certified that they are adequately enforcing existing gun laws including prosecuting those who lie on background check applications. In designated high crime areas a “stop and frisk” program seems reasonable.
This isn’t about the NRA. This about Constitutional rights!