When dangerous people want to load up on firearms ADVERTISING When dangerous people want to load up on firearms The centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s latest proposals to limit gun violence is better oversight of gun sellers. This is necessary
When dangerous people want to load up on firearms
The centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s latest proposals to limit gun violence is better oversight of gun sellers. This is necessary and overdue, but the people on the other side of the counter also deserve more attention.
Gun buyers from federally licensed dealers must undergo background checks, which are designed to screen out felons, fugitives and anyone who has been committed to a mental institution. Since 1998, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System has blocked more than 2.4 million guns from being sold to such people. On Tuesday, Obama announced a broader definition of who, exactly, is “in the business” of selling firearms — and thus required to conduct criminal background checks.
The theory behind background checks is straightforward: Some people with guns pose significantly higher risks — to society and themselves — than others. Republicans and Democrats generally agree such prohibitions are necessary. But more research is needed to know how meaningful they are, and what other categories of people might pose equally unacceptable risks.
Evidence is growing. According to the American Psychological Association, the best predictor of future gun violence is “a history of violent behavior.” A domestic abuser or stalker with no convictions, for example, may be a far more dangerous gun risk than a felonious swindler.
There are other risk factors besides a history of domestic violence. Research indicates that people with a history of violent misdemeanors are more likely to engage in violent behavior after purchasing a gun. Another risk factor is having multiple convictions related to alcohol or illegal drugs.
Additional research into gun violence can lead to strategies beyond the typical reach of law enforcement. Researchers have found an elevated risk of firearm violence among youth who received emergency-room treatment for an assault, for instance. Emergency-room interventions could curtail teens’ desire for violent retaliation.
America’s gun debate often seems as stuck as its gun politics. Political culture changes incrementally, but more and better information can quickly change a debate. All sides would benefit from more reliable data about risks, and less ambiguous evidence about solutions.
— Bloomberg View
Background checks won’t halt shootings
In their final months in office, presidents typically focus on building a legacy. One way President Obama is doing that is by tightening federal gun laws. While wiping back tears in a Tuesday speech from the White House, he announced several executive actions he claimed would reduce gun crimes, in particular, the kinds of mass shootings seen in San Bernardino on Dec. 2.
Yet as a former federal judge, Andrew Napolitano, pointed out on FoxNews.com, “Congress has expressly removed occasional sales (sales not made by full-time dealers) from the obligation of obtaining federal licenses and from conducting background checks.” Mr. Obama’s attempt to mandate such checks “will be invalidated by the courts,” he predicted.
Whatever happens at the federal level, such checks already are mandated by the state of California. Yet that law did nothing to prevent the massacre at the Inland Regional Center.
Aside from completely banning guns, it’s hard to see how tighter federal or state gun laws would have prevented that tragedy because the primary plotter, Syed Farook — who allegedly got his guns through an illegal straw purchase — was born in Chicago, had nothing in his background to block gun ownership and even worked for the government as a health inspector for the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health.
The state gun-control initiative slated for this November’s ballot includes measures, such as background checks for buying ammo, that also would not have affected the San Bernardino shooting. It is unfortuate that politicians are using such tragedies to advance an agenda that reduces Americans’ Second Amendment right to self-defense with firearms.
— The Orange County Register
