It’s appropriate that Senator Diane Feinstein opened her press conference on gun control Thursday with a prayer from Rev. Gary Hall from Washington’s National Cathedral. It will take divine intervention to get through Congress a ban on 150 different types of guns.
Gun control is a non-starter in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and even a long shot in the Senate, where the normally outspoken Majority Leader Harry Reid has been cryptic.
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who seemed open to more gun control shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting, has shifted back to a more pro-gun stance. The Senator has, however, voiced strong support for the least controversial measure in the gun debate: universal background checks.
“I’m working on a bill right now with other Senators, Democrats and Republicans—we’re trying to get it, and looking at a background check that basically says if you’re going to be a gun owner, you should be able to pass a background check.”
Manchin says the legislation would, however, include exceptions for an exchange of guns between family members or the use of guns at certain sporting events.
That measure would close what some call the “gun show loophole.” Currently, all federally licensed firearms dealers have to perform background checks. However, private dealers, who are often found at gun shows, do not.
Subjecting the vast majority of gun transactions to the same rules makes sense. Strong supporters of the Second Amendment should embrace any change that helps keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, the mentally ill and others prohibited from owning firearms.
However, it’s not necessarily that simple.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is the database used for the federal background checks, is incomplete.
The system “doesn’t include millions of people legally barred from owning guns, researchers and advocates say,” according to the Journal. “Fourteen states list fewer than five people flagged for mental illness.”
The Journal says part of the problem is that a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision “struck down part of the law requiring states to report mental-health records.”
Manchin says applying the background checks equally is just “common sense,” and he’s right. However, for those checks to be effective, the states and the federal government have to do a better job of making sure that all the appropriate records are getting to the FBI.
Otherwise, background checks are just a shot in the dark.
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Comments
hillboy
I meant "gun ownership" not "guy ownership." That would have been going off-topic.
January 25, 2013 at 2:08 pm | Report comment
Shadow
I have researched the Constitution and I have not found any place that gives the authority to interfere or regulate with the business of guns to the Federal Government. That fact is verified by the Second Amendment. The words of the Tenth Amendment give that authority to the States. And no, the Federal Government did get it by winning the Civil War or that phooey interpretation of interstate trade that was made by the SCOTUS on two acres of wheat grown for personal use. It is all a power grab by the Congress, first, when they wrote the first law and now when they want to register and confiscate the only items in the Country that keeps us free. Our Marxist President and his cohorts studied Stalin, Hitler, and Mao. The History Channel has taught us too much about those folks to allow it to happen here.
January 25, 2013 at 4:43 pm | Report comment
John
For what it's worth, consider the fact that the Obama administration trusts Egypt (under the control of "The Muslim Brotherhood") with 20 new F16s and a slew of Abrams Tanks (paid for by us to the tune of $4B) but doesn't trust the individual U.S. citizen with 30rd magazines.
Let that soak in for a moment...
January 25, 2013 at 11:50 pm | Report comment
Shadow
Another slippery slope. The only counter is the 100+ atomic weapons Israel has, the ability to deliver them, the attitude of isolation, and the determination to never let a holocaust happen again.
January 26, 2013 at 6:44 am | Report comment
Uncle Fester
No better or truer words have ever been typed (spoken) on this website.
January 28, 2013 at 10:54 am | Report comment
Shadow
Another example of the unamerican aspects of the Obama Agenda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kzT6X3_Bg9o
January 28, 2013 at 9:33 am | Report comment
Uncle Fester
I see a lot of liberals on here are quoting and stating misinformation as if they were facts. At least get the facts straight before starting your rants. The shooter in Newtown, CT did fire an 'assault rifle." The shooter used pistols, not an assault rifle. But the leftist, liberal media won't report the facts. All they are interested in is advancing the liberal repressive-progressive agenda.
January 28, 2013 at 10:51 am | Report comment
WVtoTX
I keep trying to remind people of that but eh....
January 30, 2013 at 5:12 pm | Report comment
john
it doesnt matter what congress does. in march the un small arms ban comes up and there is global support for a ban on all guns except single shot hunting rifles. id like to hear more about the un small arms ban as the united states being a charter member of the united nations. i think the united states could gain global support by showing change about gun ownership in this country.
January 28, 2013 at 11:09 am | Report comment
Newlifestar
Universal Background Checks is not the solution for the issue because background check or not is not and has never been the onset of episode in gun violence, gun deaths, gun tragedies, and the heartache of America!
The truth is even if someone has never committed crimes in the past and has in the past been determined to mentally stable and psychologically healthy, it does not mean that this person will not and could never harm, hurt, or murder other people!
So, there you have it; “universal background checks is useless, unnecessary, and inappropriate to solve the nature of the problem in gun violence, gun deaths, and gun tragedies!”
By Newlifestar
January 28, 2013 at 9:00 pm | Report comment
Levelheaded
I for one will not be voting for Manchin again. He is a typical politician, he votes with the political winds. He jumped out front on this because he thought the "political winds" would change. He was wrong and had to back off some of his statements. This simply is not honesty. I want my Senator to be honest and forthright.
January 31, 2013 at 3:00 am | Report comment
wvtd
traitor joey is at it again.
February 27, 2013 at 12:17 pm | Report comment