Gun Laws - Senator Kaine proves he either doesn't or can't do his homework - Granite Grok

Gun Laws – Senator Kaine proves he either doesn’t or can’t do his homework

The current Law:

  1. A legal FFL (e.g. gun shop) must have all buyers fill out a Form 4473 which asks if that person is legally able to purchase the firearm. If a purchaser marks that they are a prohibited person, the FFL is not to sell the firearm under Federal Penalty of REALLY REALLY bad outcomes.
  2. A legal FFL must also put the buyer through the Federal NICS system which is supposed to tell the seller if the purchaser is ineligible to do so.  Yes, consider “screwed” to the FFL to continue the sal.
  3. A private seller, under Federal penalty, cannot sell to someone that they know is ineligible to legally posses a firearm – up to 10 years in the klink if you do so.

So, what does Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) do?  In the light of the recent murder of Gov. Cuomo (D-NY)’s lawyer at a NYC festival, he decides to create a bill that:

  • Makes it illegal for an FFL to knowingly sell a firearm to a prohibited person
  • Make it illegal for a private citizen to sell a firearm to a prohibited person

Yes, you read that right. Obviously, this esteemed lawMAKER of ours:

  •  The quality of the Law is not, as this erstwhile lawMAKER thinks, a function of the quantity of Law on a given subject.
  • Has no clue that such a law already exists (see above) and is totally redundant

As Grokster Kimberly exclaimed and summarizes perfectly when I emailed this story to the other Groksters:

I just read the story… the guy is a FREAKING MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 The PR bit (emphasis mine, reformatted:

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is looking to crack down on gun dealers that sell firearms to criminals.

The Responsible Transfer of Firearms Act introduced Tuesday would hold gun dealers liable for sales made to people who are prohibited from owning guns. It is the latest gun bill introduced by Democrats that is unlikely to pass through a Republican-controlled Congress. It would apply to both federally-licensed gun dealers and private sellers.

So, what is different between it and the current law?

“As recent tragedies in Virginia and across the country have shown, the gun laws in our country have done little to stem senseless gun violence,” Kaine said in a statement. “These numbing incidents in urban, rural and suburban communities are made worse by the lack of accountability in those instances where the tragedy might have been prevented.”

And once again, these nitwits go after the inanimate object and law abiding folks.  Study after study has shown that criminals obtain their firearms mostly by either stealing them, obtaining them from other criminals, or from family members.  The first is a crime, the second utilizes other criminals which is also a crime, and family members are committing a crime as they would know if this person is prohibited simply by dint of their criminal background.  So how does this solve….what?

The gun legislation comes as Congress returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, following the on-air shooting on two television journalists last month in Virginia. Kaine blamed loose gun laws for allowing firearms dealers to sell guns to people who are prohibited from owning them.

Dealers are ALREADY prohibited from doing so – klink time, a long time, if they do?

Gun dealers would be required to take “reasonable steps” to ensure the people they sell to are allowed to own firearms under the new legislation, Kaine said. Kaine didn’t specify what those reasonable steps would be. “It would hold a seller or transferor of firearms criminally liable should they fail to demonstrate they took reasonable steps to prevent a weapon from falling into prohibited hands,” he said. “Why should someone be able to casually place an illegal firearm in the hands of a felon?”

Right there, by not specifying what “reasonable” is, we see this is nothing more than a PR stunt.  He CAN’T say what it is because there is nothing left for “reasonable”.  The only “casually” person (to mangle grammer) that would do so would be another criminal.

What Kaine, and most other anti-gunners do, is to impugn all law abiding citizens as “criminals in waiting”.  Like it or not, our justice system is built around the philosophy that we are innocent before proven guilty.  Sure, you may have the knee jerk emotional response of “but guns kill!”.  Yes, evil people kill others with guns – but look at that previous sentence construction.  These laws, by Progressives, leave out the most important piece of this entire issue – Evil exists.  Evil, true evil, is rarely constrained by or contained by Law.    Just like “Freedom Is”, so is Evil.  It is what is in the heart of someone that matters, or better put, a lack of what is in someone’s heart.  It is also part of the culture in some areas – specifically the selfishness of those that believe others don’t matter.  These self-centered ones believe they and their needs AND wants trump everything and everyone else.

So how does one keep evil people from obtaining guns?  I’ve thought about this long and hard and I can come up with only one solution.

A police state.

You want that, here in the “Land of the Free”?  “Safety and Security” you cry! Trust me, in a police state, you have no safety and your PERSONAL security with respect to those in authority running such a police state means no individual security at all.  They would be able to swoop in at any time at any place to keep you “safe” – and how many times have we seen Government get both the time, place, and people wrong?  We would be a fascist / socialist society as the State would necessarily take precedent over the individual, not matter how wrong the Government might be or evil the person.  Why?

Because the State would HAVE to prejudge us all as being eternally guilty.

You want that, bro?

(H/T: The Hill via UPI)

Update: I looked it up – H.B. 368

Liar in the article – here’s yer “reasonable“ness fer us
Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit a person who is not a licensed firearms importer, manufacturer, or dealer from transferring a firearm to, or receiving a firearm from, another unlicensed person, except: (1) through a licensed dealer or a law enforcement agency, which shall conduct a background check through the national instant criminal background check system; and (2) after inspecting a permit that confirms that such background check has been conducted. Specifies exceptions, including for: (1) the transfer of a bona fide gift between immediate family members; (2) a transfer that occurs by operation of law or by an executor or trustee because of the death of another person; (3) a temporary transfer that occurs in the home of the unlicensed transferee who believes that possession of the firearm is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to the transferee; and (4) certain temporary transfers without the transfer of title at a shooting range, at a shooting competition, or while hunting, fishing, or trapping.
Basically, everyone has to go a gun shop to do a private sale.  In essence, it outlaws private property sales.  That’s right the “pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration – that PRIVATE PROPERTY was one of the highest ideals.  Here in NH:
[Art.] 2. [Natural Rights.] All men have certain natural, essential, and inherent rights – among which are, the enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting, property; and, in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by this state on account of race, creed, color, sex or national origin.
The more that Government inserts itself into one’s private property, how it is acquired, used, and sold/thrown away, it becomes not-private-property.
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