I need three minutes of your time for an important poll.
Go to this FOX31 website for a poll on background checks.
http://kdvr.com/2013/04/10/would-background-checks-have-stopped-recent-mass-shootings/ There is a box in the middle of the article and lets you vote on the issue.
Many media articles recently have been reporting "According to recent polls, more than 90% of Americans favor some form of background checks for firearm purchases". I find that number very hard to believe. I believe they need to hear from more of us that do not believe more regulations will change what criminals do. They already ignore the law!
Here are some facts about background checks.
Most people I know, (and that is admittedly slanted towards Pro-Gun people), DO NOT agree that all private party sales must be run through a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL).
I would personally use the Background Check system to verify if a buyer was legal if I could access it myself and it was still free, as it was for years. Currently only FFLs have access to the system. If it is so important to background everyone, why don't they allow more people to access the database? Instead, they want the transactions to go through a dealer who then charges for the service. In Colorado, the costs are even higher than necessary.
The State of Colorado has imposed themselves between the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) and the FFL. NICS is run by the FBI and is free. The State runs the InstaCheck system through Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has CBI receiving the background request from the FFL, then checking the NICS. They then let the FFL know if the transaction can proceed. Colorado complains about the costs associated with the InstaCheck program yet has fought every bill that has been introduced to remove them from the process and just have direct NICS access like other states. They have pushed for a background fee for years and finally got one imposed this Spring. Now we can add the CBI fee to the FFL fee and it can get pricey to transfer a firearm, even to someone you have known for years and know is not a risk to society.
Even with the costs for the Checks, they are hardly effective. Numerous studies, including government ones, have shown that there is little to no affect on crime through the background checks. Criminals do not follow the procedures that the rest of us do and they obtain guns through methods that are already illegal. Changes to the background system will not alter their behavior but will just add to the costs and inconveniences for law-abiding citizens.
But of course most of us on this site already know these facts - SO VOTE!
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