The following is a very interesting article on ways to curb gun violence written by a friend of mine.
Universal background checks aren’t the answer
By Robert Wilson (November 2018)
If you believe that universal background checks for gun purchases will prevent mass shootings, keep your expectations low. Even if the names of persons prohibited from buying a gun were conscientiously added to the National Instant Background Check System (NICS), people who shouldn’t have a gun will still be able to get one. And, it should be noted, in most cases the guns used in mass shootings were purchased legally.
The NICS is a name check system that queries available records in multiple databases: National Crime Information Center (NCIC); Interstate Identification Index (III), and; NICS indices. The purpose is to determine if prospective gun purchasers are disqualified from buying or possessing guns. The check is run when a gun is being purchased from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL). Other than purchases from a FFL, ownership transfers are regulated (or unregulated) by the states. If the NICS check doesn’t find a suspected name match, the buyer gets the gun. If there is a suspected name match, the FBI has three days to confirm its validity or the buyer gets the gun. The system default is that the buyer gets the gun. A NICS match may prevent someone from buying a gun from an FFL, but if the person wants a gun, in an America polluted with guns of all descriptions, they can buy one on the street or steal one. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that, on average, at least one gun a day is reported stolen in Richmond, Virginia. But, the Richmond police, tracing recovered firearms, have found that a large percentage of stolen guns are never reported.
The NICS system’s major flaw lies in the fact that it is a negative check. If it doesn’t get a confirmed match on name and birth year, the buyer gets the gun. The NICS is dependent on a variety of different resources including courts, police, medical practitioners, etc., to enter the names of people that are legally disqualified from owning a gun, but it has no practical means of enforcing compliance. If a name is added to NICS, it is unlikely that all of the guns that the person may already have are confiscated.
I’ve had experience with databases indexed by name and date of birth and they work reliably if it is a positive test. In the early 1960’s, I designed and implemented, on second generation computers, Indiana’s Driver Licensing and Control System. By the mid-1960’s we had converted three million drivers and their histories from paper files to a name- indexed database. They were made available to Bureau of Motor Vehicles license
By Robert Wilson (November 2018)
If you believe that universal background checks for gun purchases will prevent mass shootings, keep your expectations low. Even if the names of persons prohibited from buying a gun were conscientiously added to the National Instant Background Check System (NICS), people who shouldn’t have a gun will still be able to get one. And, it should be noted, in most cases the guns used in mass shootings were purchased legally.
The NICS is a name check system that queries available records in multiple databases: National Crime Information Center (NCIC); Interstate Identification Index (III), and; NICS indices. The purpose is to determine if prospective gun purchasers are disqualified from buying or possessing guns. The check is run when a gun is being purchased from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL). Other than purchases from a FFL, ownership transfers are regulated (or unregulated) by the states. If the NICS check doesn’t find a suspected name match, the buyer gets the gun. If there is a suspected name match, the FBI has three days to confirm its validity or the buyer gets the gun. The system default is that the buyer gets the gun. A NICS match may prevent someone from buying a gun from an FFL, but if the person wants a gun, in an America polluted with guns of all descriptions, they can buy one on the street or steal one. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that, on average, at least one gun a day is reported stolen in Richmond, Virginia. But, the Richmond police, tracing recovered firearms, have found that a large percentage of stolen guns are never reported.
The NICS system’s major flaw lies in the fact that it is a negative check. If it doesn’t get a confirmed match on name and birth year, the buyer gets the gun. The NICS is dependent on a variety of different resources including courts, police, medical practitioners, etc., to enter the names of people that are legally disqualified from owning a gun, but it has no practical means of enforcing compliance. If a name is added to NICS, it is unlikely that all of the guns that the person may already have are confiscated.
I’ve had experience with databases indexed by name and date of birth and they work reliably if it is a positive test. In the early 1960’s, I designed and implemented, on second generation computers, Indiana’s Driver Licensing and Control System. By the mid-1960’s we had converted three million drivers and their histories from paper files to a name- indexed database. They were made available to Bureau of Motor Vehicles license
branches and law enforcement officers throughout the state using the State Police
microwave network and leased telephone lines. The Internet didn’t exist. When the
National Crime Information Center (NCIC) came on-line in the mid-1960’s, they tied into
our system because it was a proven name search system accessible by law enforcement
throughout Indiana.
The key difference between searching Indiana’s driver database and the NICS database is that everyone driving a motor vehicle had to be licensed by the state, and they had to pass a test and demonstrate that they could drive. If an Indiana driver was stopped, they were either in the database, or they were in trouble. The primary qualifications for someone wanting a buy a gun from an FFL is to have a pulse and not match a name on the NICS.
There is a solution, if Congress can find the political will to buck the NRA and make it the law of the land. Since people and guns flow across state lines, a consistent nation-wide control system is called for. It involves defining 2nd Amendment rights legally, but more narrowly.
The most immediately effective action would be outlawing, for civilian possession, the tools most used in mass shootings, and establish FFA’s as the only source for civilian- legal new gun purchases. FFAs or law enforcement departments could handle private party used gun ownership transfers. A limited-time buy-back plan may be needed to expedite the disposal of banned guns and accessories. But when the buy-back window closes, any banned guns and accessories that surface must be confiscated and destroyed.
I recommend the following:
The key difference between searching Indiana’s driver database and the NICS database is that everyone driving a motor vehicle had to be licensed by the state, and they had to pass a test and demonstrate that they could drive. If an Indiana driver was stopped, they were either in the database, or they were in trouble. The primary qualifications for someone wanting a buy a gun from an FFL is to have a pulse and not match a name on the NICS.
There is a solution, if Congress can find the political will to buck the NRA and make it the law of the land. Since people and guns flow across state lines, a consistent nation-wide control system is called for. It involves defining 2nd Amendment rights legally, but more narrowly.
The most immediately effective action would be outlawing, for civilian possession, the tools most used in mass shootings, and establish FFA’s as the only source for civilian- legal new gun purchases. FFAs or law enforcement departments could handle private party used gun ownership transfers. A limited-time buy-back plan may be needed to expedite the disposal of banned guns and accessories. But when the buy-back window closes, any banned guns and accessories that surface must be confiscated and destroyed.
I recommend the following:
-
Ban high capacity magazines and bump stocks. They are only useful for laying down a field of fire, not for hunting game, target shooting or self-defense.
-
Ban semi-automatic rifles. They aren’t needed for hunting. My old .30-.30 lever action
Winchester was a fine deer rifle, and a single shot .22 was deadly for small game.
-
Ban openly carrying a gun when not hunting or on a licensed shooting range. They
make observers feel insecure.
-
Ban “Stand Your Ground” laws. They give paranoid people with guns a license to kill.
-
Establish rules for storing and transporting high-powered rifles in jurisdictions where
they can’t legally be used for hunting. - Limit concealed carry to those with a legitimate need to carry a weapon. Paranoia should disqualify a person from having a gun - not be used as justification.
- Ban unregulated militias, like the band of vigilantes headed for the Southern border. They are not the “well regulated Militias” as envisioned by the Founding Fathers. They aren’t patriots. They are anarchists.
- Additional gun control measures are necessary, but they will take longer to implement. They include converting NICS to a positive check system for eligibility to be in possession of a citizen-legal gun, and creating a Federal Firearms Registry containing the serial number of every citizen-legal gun in the country together with the identity of its owner. For the following discussion, “possession” refers to having a gun in hand, and “owner” refers to the person who purchased the gun. An owner must be qualified to possess the gun, but a person qualified to have the gun in their possession may not necessarily be its owner.
- Using the driver license analogy, if every state required every person in possession of a gun to have a certification, recorded in NICS, that they had been trained and qualified on that class of gun, NICS would be able to make a positive confirmation of a qualified possession. It is possible that someone qualified to be in possession of a gun may not be qualified to be the owner (e.g., underage for ownership, but old enough to qualify to use the gun for legal purposes - similar to letting your son use your car). The legal owner would be liable for how the gun is used when, with their permission, it is in the possession of another qualified person. This would encourage the owner to report a lost or stolen gun promptly. An individual could be qualified on multiple classes of guns. If a person is disqualified for being in possession of a gun, their NICS qualification would be revoked.
- The Federal Firearm Registry would include every legal gun in the country linked to their current owner in NICS. Every gun, including home-made guns, would be required to have a serial number permanently engraved or affixed to the gun by the manufacturer and logged into the database. Whenever ownership of a gun changes the Registry would need to be updated, as a complement to NICS, to track ownership of civilian-legal guns. In the event that a qualified owner is disqualified through a legal action, that will be recorded in his NICS record(s), and the Federal Gun Registry can be used to identify and secure the guns they own.
The combination of NICS, containing the names and birth dates of all citizens qualified to
be in possession of specific classes of guns, and a Registry, containing the serial numbers
of all citizen-legal guns in the country together with their owner identification, would
enable instant confirmation of:
• A person’s qualification to possess a class of gun
• An owner’s qualification to buy a class of gun
• The identity of a specific gun’s owner
Implementation of the revised NICS and creation of the Federal Firearm Registry will take at least two years. These databases don’t currently exist, but developing the software and acquiring the hardware capacity could be done within a year of signing the enabling legislation. Populating the databases with legal owners and guns will take longer. FFLs and local Police Departments could collect and enter data from existing gun owners. Initially, it may be necessary to grandfather in some qualifications, but licensed firearms trainers, and possibly the NRA, could instruct and qualify people on legal firearms and enter the qualifications into NICS.
There is no quick fix to gain control over the problem of a country awash in guns of all descriptions. But the process and systems described above will provide the common sense gun control the majority of the people in America want. And, contrary to what the NRA preaches, the Second Amendment doesn’t prohibit sensible gun control. Banning from the civilian market many of the firearms and accessories flooding the nation would start the process of getting the tools of mass shootings under control. Laws and systems consistent with the 2nd Amendment, can address the gun glut fueling the epidemic of mass shootings and - if there is the political will to do it.
• A person’s qualification to possess a class of gun
• An owner’s qualification to buy a class of gun
• The identity of a specific gun’s owner
Implementation of the revised NICS and creation of the Federal Firearm Registry will take at least two years. These databases don’t currently exist, but developing the software and acquiring the hardware capacity could be done within a year of signing the enabling legislation. Populating the databases with legal owners and guns will take longer. FFLs and local Police Departments could collect and enter data from existing gun owners. Initially, it may be necessary to grandfather in some qualifications, but licensed firearms trainers, and possibly the NRA, could instruct and qualify people on legal firearms and enter the qualifications into NICS.
There is no quick fix to gain control over the problem of a country awash in guns of all descriptions. But the process and systems described above will provide the common sense gun control the majority of the people in America want. And, contrary to what the NRA preaches, the Second Amendment doesn’t prohibit sensible gun control. Banning from the civilian market many of the firearms and accessories flooding the nation would start the process of getting the tools of mass shootings under control. Laws and systems consistent with the 2nd Amendment, can address the gun glut fueling the epidemic of mass shootings and - if there is the political will to do it.
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