How They'll Lie to Ban Private Gun Sales

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Would you vote for a law that made the innocent, everyday gun sales on Facebook illegal? By misleading people, supporters of  2016’s ‘universal background checks’ initiative use false positives to sell their ban on private gun sales. Even the name is misleading. Would you vote for the ‘Ban Private Gun Sales’ Initiative?

Here is how they are going to try and sell the ‘benefits’ of restricting your private property rights and infringing on the Second Amendment, all so they can have the stage set for gun registration.

They’re going to tell you it’s a benefit to the seller. “By completing the sale/transfer at a federally licensed dealer (FFL), the likelihood of a robbery for your cash or firearm is greatly decreased.”

Meeting at a police station, a high-traffic public area, or by being aware, staying smart, and going armed can have the same benefit with none of the negatives.

“Instant background checks give the seller piece of mind knowing they aren’t unwittingly breaking the law by selling or transferring the firearm to a prohibited person.”

Most criminals and prohibited persons don’t buy guns from private sales organized online or at gun shows and usually get them from relatives—something not prohibited by the initiative. And if you’re that worried, Nevada already has free voluntary private background checks available, and most dealers will even now facilitate a private sale.

“All of us are asking: ‘How can I be part of the solution to gun violence?’ Easily! Vote for universal background checks and end the internet and gun show loopholes.”

Laws can’t legislate away criminals. Murder is illegal, yet it still happens. Only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun. Also never mind that all of the murder weapons in the recent high-profile mass shootings were either obtained legally, through a licensed dealer, or through theft/murder.

“Dealers will make $25 for a fraction of their time without the overhead expenses of acquiring and stocking inventory.”

For $25, is the extra hassle really worth the increased number of records which must be retained for 20 years and the time it takes to record the sale/transfer and call in the background check?

“The increased traffic into gun stores will be a wonderful opportunity to sell additional firearms, magazines, accessories, and ammunition to customers who might not have otherwise come into the store.”

What about the multitude of better deals for gun gear and ammo that people are finding online these days?  

“Private sale background checks will benefit sellers by reducing their risk of exposure to liability if the firearm they sell is later used in a crime.”

Only knowingly selling/transferring a firearm to a prohibited person is illegal and a good-faith sale wouldn’t expose a seller to liability.

“Only criminals, terrorists, and smugglers have something to hide from background checks.”

Innocent until proven guilty anyone?

“By law, none of the records are retained, so there is no fear of national or state gun registry.”

Backdoor gun registration exists as FFLs are required to retain their records for 20 years or surrender them to the ATF if they go out of business. Additionally, the ATF and law enforcement can inspect or require records from FFLs at any time as part of an investigation.

“With 97% of Nevadans living within 10 miles of an FFL, the few minutes spent completing the transfer at a dealer is worth it for the peace of mind.”

Is peace of mind worth eroding your personal property rights and infringing on the Second Amendment because of an unenforceable, feel-good law? Would you vote to ban private car sales because there is a DMV nearby?

If stopping sales to prohibited persons were the real goal, why not make it easier to get a background check and why make it harder to sell a gun privately? Meeting at a dealer is a time-consuming burden. The same level of peace of mind and enforceability could be had by establishing free background checks for private sales or opening a public hotline.

Background checks are almost totally ill-relevant to the ultimate goal. By forcing all sales/transfers to go through a dealer, it will be extremely easy to require dealers to report all sales/transfers to the government and thus create a gun registration system. The ‘universal background check’ initiative is the precursor to total gun registration.

The over-riding reason to say no is this: Can you trust that the government will not abuse this power or take it to the next level and require gun registration?