In recent weeks in the wake of the Newtown , Connecticut
school shootings, I have done a number of media interviews on the topic of gun
violence and how will we as a nation will attempt to cope with this tragedy and
somehow sensibly address this issue in the coming weeks and months.
Gun violence and the issue of more “gun control” has
dominated the daily news cycles since the Newtown incident in mid December
sparking s high emotions and divisiveness among Americans across the country. It seems every politician, news commentator,
celebrity and gun owner has a strong and personal opinion as well as a solution
but simply enforcing existing gun
laws will substantially make each and every one of us safer. There a few salient issues related to
existing gun laws that need to be highlighted.
Through better law enforcement, increased regulation coupled
with greater social awareness we Americans have significantly improved the
safety of a number of American industries to include our airlines, our
highways, our swimming pools and our railroad crossings to name just a few.
There is movement and legislation afoot to greater control
and regulate assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols, high capacity magazines
and whatever else is deemed to be over threatening to society. I believe a simple enforcement of existing
gun laws would bring a significant change to the landscape, the public’s peace
of mind and, undoubtedly, make our schools, theaters, college campuses and
political rallies safer and less prone to violence. There is no doubt that we as a society need
to stop and reassess. Since Columbine alone there have been over 100 shootings
at schools around the country and since Newtown, Connecticut just 7 weeks ago,
there have been 4 or 5 gun incidents on school grounds.
Let’s as a nation, bring some common sense to the equation
that reasonable people would, I believe, overwhelmingly agree. I think we all agree we must keep guns out of
the hands of criminals and those that are mentally unstable. It is crystal clear from FBI statistics and
anecdotal evidence that the overwhelming amount of crimes committed with
firearms take place in the hands of both of those aforementioned categories;
criminals and the mentally unstable.
Herein, lies the “crack in the system” as we have seen with
many government programs whether it be immigration, gun registration, or
student loan programs; a lack of consistency
and accountability when it comes
down to enforcement. I say this tongue
in cheek, but maybe we should consider contracting the management of our gun registry
and background check system to UPS or FedEx.
These two companies can tell us at any second of the day or night the
location and status of any one of millions of packages floating around the
world en route to their destinations. There
are two basic “loopholes” in the system wherein someone can buy or sell a gun without
a background check. We MUST close those loopholes and there is
a simple solution.
First of all, if an individual with a criminal record goes
to a gun shop or sporting goods store and attempts to buy a gun and he’s turned
down because of a problem in his or her background, he just walks off and goes
to his local gun show on any one of a number of week-end s at a variety of
convention halls around the city. There he sees the semi-automatic pistol he
wants sitting on a table, he negotiates a price, plops down his cash and walks
out the door pistol in hand and under the radar of ATF. His second option, if he doesn’t want to or
can’t get to a gun show, he just go to the trusty Internet and conducts his
pistol purchase there.
In both cases he flies under the radar and no background
check is conducted relative to that purchase; either of him or the pistol
purchased.
Herein lies the first step in correcting the process. Each and every gun purchase in America should
and MUST be transacted through a licensed
Federal Firearms Dealer or Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), as they are
officially called. Any transaction that
is conducted otherwise is a felony. You can
still go to a gun show, see a weapon you want and buy it but the sale and
purchase must be transacted through
a FFL or both you and the seller have committed a felony. Yes, you could risk buying the gun without
the FFL and the resulting background check just as one could run the risk of
buying a stolen car but the risk of is that of committing a felony. I’ll leave it up to the law-makers to decide
the penalty but a sentence of 5 years as a first offense would good for
starters.
Now, let’s examine the second part of the equation and an
equally important part of the solution to reducing gun violence. During the course of that transaction and background
check, not only is a background conducted on the purchaser but also on the weapon. This is also accomplished through a simple
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) criminal database check. This would provide a screening for weapons
that may have been stolen from residences, vehicles or used in prior
crimes. Houston, Texas leads the nation
in home burglaries and throughout the city hundreds of weapons have been stolen
from people’s homes and vehicles. This would close the loophole on the “black
market” sale of guns and return those stolen guns to their rightful
owners. I have talked at length with my
police colleagues who work the streets regarding this issue and they wholeheartedly
agree.
This two-part simple background process would significantly
reduce gun violence in our society.
We submit to background checks in application for drivers
licenses, to secure a passport or to open a bar and restaurant…let’s not slam
the door on this simple and sensible concept, screaming unimpeded Second Amendment rights when asked to comply with
these common sense steps which may keep a dangerous weapon out of the hands of
those two categories we previously cited,
criminals and the mentally unstable.
We honor and want to preserve the Second Amendment but it was written in different
times and in a far different world…..a world where guns were single shot musket
balls and gun powder and people inherently respected the rights of others and
there were not desensitizing video games watched in dark corners for hours by
children trying to achieve the highest score by killing as many people as
possible in a blood spattered video games. Furthermore, a polling of NRA members showed a
74% support of background checks.
Lastly, the issue of some sort of “mental health check”
being part of the background process has been on the discussion table. In my opinion, under current privacy laws as
they relate to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),
this is going to be a difficult to include.
The only way some sort of mental health “box” could be checked is if a medical
report signed by a mental health professional is required as a part of the
background check. In the State of Texas,
for example, there are certain licenses wherein the applicant is required to
provide such “mental health stability” documentation. Under Texas state law in order to carry a
firearm as a Personal Protection Officer, a background check by a licensed
mental health professional is required. Similarly,
the Texas Department of Transportation requires a mental health check in order
to be issued certain drivers licenses such as long-haul trucks and other
specialty vehicles.
Again, the imposition and acceptance of a common sense, functional
and comprehensive background program on ALL
gun sales void of any loopholes is the first real step in greatly reducing gun
violence in our schools, theaters, malls and political rallies.
