Universal Background Checks Are ALL About Gun Confiscation, Lt. Gov. Patrick
By Carole Hornsby Haynes, Ph.D. September 12, 2019
To appease Democrats demands over the last mass shooting in Texas, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has proposed Obama-era legislation requiring background checks for private gun sales. Trying to calm outraged gun rights activists, he claims, “This is NOT a ban on private gun sales and this change in the law will NOT lead to a gun registry.”
Background checks for private gun sales will not stop someone who is determined to kill. The nation’s leading criminologist in the study of murder James Alan Fox states, “Most mass murderers do not have criminal records or a history of psychiatric hospitalization. They would not be disqualified from purchasing their weapons legally….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.”
Yet, because of serious defects with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, millions of citizens who were eligible to purchase a firearm have been denied their Constitutional right.
Why Democrats Want Background Checks
Universal background check is not about public safety. It is ALL about gun confiscation. For decades Democrats have focused on civilian disarmament that will render us unable to defend ourselves against an all-powerful, corrupt and abusive government.
Each time there has been a public murder over the decades, Democrats have howled for more gun control. Demanding a universal background check to stop mass shooters is merely Democrat conditioning the public to blame guns for violence instead of the decadent societal conditions in America caused by leftists’ legislation.
In 1934 Democrats tried to ban firearms used for defensive purposes with the National Firearms Act. That was unconstitutional so they settled for the registration of only fully-automatic firearms, short-barreled rifles and shotguns, and sound suppressors. They were unable to pass the same requirement on handguns and semi-automatic firearms that held more than 12 rounds of ammunition.
In 1938 the Federal Firearms Act was passed to govern interstate or foreign commerce channels. Sellers were required to record the names and addresses of gun purchasers and were prohibited from selling to those who had been convicted of crimes or lacked a permit.
The 1968 Gun Control Act included provisions restricting any type of weapon, specifically those suitable for or adaptable to defensive purposes, except those the executive branch finds “particularly suitable for sporting purposes.” President Lyndon Johnson complained that the bill lacked registration of all guns and licensing of all gun owners.
In 1976 the National Council to Control Handguns admitted their three-step goal was to decrease the production and sale of handguns, require registration, and to ban handguns and handgun ammunition.
California in 1989 and New Jersey in 1990 ordered owners of “assault weapons” to register them with their respective state governments. That few gun owners complied did not go unnoticed by Democrats.
In 1990 the Crime Control Act created gun-free school zones. This federal law has victimized school children
with mass shooters targeting schools because they know there are no guns there.
In 1993 came the lynchpin with the Brady Bill that required the establishment of a background check system within five years. Democrats demanded checks on non-dealer gun sales at gun shows followed by demands on non-dealer sales everywhere (“universal” checks).
How background checks lead to national gun registry
A licensed gun dealer is required to record information about the gun being sold, including manufacturer, type, model, caliber/gauge and serial number and information on the buyer, including photo and address. The dealer is required to retain the federal Firearms Transaction Record regardless of whether sale is made or the buyer passes the background check.
Democrats have tried to pass federal legislation to allow the FBI to retain records on firearm purchases with a background check. If universal checks is implemented, then the records kept by the FBI could include the make, model, and serial number of any gun sold, given as a gift, or inherited. That data could be used for a national registry which could be used for gun confiscation in the United States.
In 2013 President Obama introduced proposals for tighter gun control including universal background checks, the reinstatement and strengthening of the assault weapons ban, and limiting ammunition magazines to a 10-round capacity. The legislation failed at the national level, but states are passing legislation along similar lines.
DOJ demands personal data on 10,000 gun owners
Just how aggressive our government could become should gun ban become law is evident in this recent action by the Department of Justice.
In an unprecedented demand, the DOJ asked the court to force Apple and Google to hand over personal data of at least 10,000 users of a single gun scope app which allows gun owners to calibrate their scope from an Android or iPhone device. Investigators believe Obsidian 4, used to control rifle scopes manufactured by night-vision specialist American Technologies Network Corporation, is being exported illegally. While the DOJ is trying to expedite its search for the end-users of the illegal shipments, it is trampling on the Constitutional rights of countless iPhone users who will be swept up in the data grab.
If the DOJ demand for the Apple and Google app records is successful, the federal government will have a database of anyone who has a rifle and scope and where they can be reached, a violation of their Second Amendment rights.
The Solution
Not that many decades ago, we could easily buy guns to protect ourselves, with no background checks or permits required. Early in our nation’s history, carrying an open weapon for self-defense was acceptable while concealed carry was considered to be the practice of criminals. As part of their agenda to disarm the American people, Democrats stigmatize those who choose to arm themselves.
The Second Amendment codifies our God-given right to be armed. Requiring a license or permit to carry a gun is a bestowed government privilege, a violation of our inalienable right.
Open carry without a permit is legal in 31 states. Although Texas allows open and concealed carry for handguns, a license is required -- a tax on self-defense. Constitutional Carry laws allow individuals to carry a handgun, either open or concealed, without government permission in the form of a permit. Constitutional Carry, the hottest pro-gun fight over the past decade, is now in 15 states. But Texas legislators – led by Republicans – have refused to pass Constitutional Carry legislation.
More gun control laws won’t stop mass public shootings because the real causes of the problem lie in the moral decay of America with our straying from our founding principles and Judeo-Christian values, the leftwing indoctrination in public schools, and radical sexualization of our culture. If we are to stop violence, then we must resolve the root problems.
What we need is real leaders who will stop pandering to Democrats and take a stand on fixing the underlying problems that are destroying our nation.