Representative Marjorie Smith (D) Durham takes to the pages of the Portsmouth Herald to advocate for House Bill 59 “Requiring a background check prior to any commercial firearm sale.” Representative Smith is not educating the reader. She is gaslight the reader.
Smith first claims,
House Bill 59, pending before the New Hampshire House, addresses not the gun, but the person who chooses to purchase the gun. And that is probably why 93% of the American public favors background checks for gun purchases. That includes just under 90% of gun owners, and just under 90% of Republicans.
All fifty states participate in the National Instant Background Check System. When a person chooses to purchase a firearm, that person must complete an ATF Form 4473 provided by the dealer, and provide a government-issued identification, such as a drivers license to the dealer. The “Commercial Seller.” In New Hampshire, if one is purchasing a handgun, the dealer must call the N.H. Department of Safety Gunline for the background check.
If a person is purchasing a long gun, the ATF Gunline is contacted. The background check is completed and the individual purchases the firearm. The Dealer must be licensed by the ATF and possess a Federal Firearms License of the appropriate classification to see the particular guns he or she is selling.
Representative Smith would have the reader believe that background checks do not exist. In using the words, “commercial firearms sales,” There is an implication that New Hampshire, nor the Federal Government adequately regulate or control firearms sales. This is gaslighting at its finest.
The American public supports background checks because we already have background checks. The National Instant Background Check System or NICS is what governs the sale of firearms as explained above.
We have a current system in place. Albeit it is not without its flaws from time to time, but largely the NICS does what it intends to do. Yet, more gaslighting from Representative Smith…
“Never having purchased a gun, I was interested to learn how easy it would be to purchase a gun legally. There are nearly 59,000 unique gun dealers across the country, four times as many as there are McDonald’s and nearly twice as many as U.S. post offices.”
What a nebulous statement. Representative Smith was interested to learn how easy it would be to purchase a gun, she claims. Do you think she went to various gun dealers? Or shops? A gun dealer is any person who lawfully possesses a Federal Firearms License and may lawfully and commercially engage in the sale and purchase of firearms.
That 59,000 number she cites represents a whole slew of individuals who deal in firearms out of their homes. These are small “Mom and Pop” gun dealers, many of which deal with a known set of clientele. Many only sell a few guns per year! By citing that number, however, with a comparison to the ubiquitous number of McDonald’s and Post Offices is rank charlatanry at its best. Gaslighting with a capital G. She would have us believe there are 59,000 Gun Walmart-type box stores blanketing our nation. Oh! the humanity!
Representative Smith has this gaslighting down pat. She states,
“This bill requires “commercial” firearms sales in New Hampshire to be processed through a “licensed firearms dealer,” who will conduct a background check and create a record of each sale. Its purpose is to protect public safety by helping to keep firearms out of the hands of felons, domestic abusers, and those adjudicated to be mentally ill.”
All of this already exists as stated above. Licensed Firearms Dealers already conduct NICS checks. Most people understand this to be the case. But the real goal of the bill is to create a registry where she states, “create a record of each sale.” That is the object goal of this bill. Representative Smith wants guns registered, as do all the Democrats.
We need only look to the State of California, our neighbors to the south, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and Illinois to fully understand what Gun Control looks like. Despite having the most restrictive, draconian gun laws of all fifty states, Those legislatures are still passing gun control laws! This is not a gun control issue. This is a progressive issue.
This article is little more than apparatchik propaganda. Representative Smith further writes,
“This bill closes what is referred to as the Charleston loophole. Under federal law, a licensed dealer may proceed with the sale of a firearm after three business days even if the mandated background check has not yet been completed and there’s been no confirmation that the purchaser is legally permitted to have guns. The perpetrator of the Charleston church shooting.”
There is no Charleston Loophole. If such a loophole exists, then why have there not been more like or similar examples of this taking place. The Charleston shooter was indeed a prohibited person. The State Background system contacted the wrong agency for follow-up, a major snafu with dreadful consequences, but hardly a loophole.
This whole bill is white noise and deception at an epic level. With sleight of hand they create the perception that this is a much-needed bill, while all of it is in place…except of course, the gun registry. That is the real goal here.
Finally, she shows her true gaslighting when she shockingly includes,
“HB 59 as amended excludes private, noncommercial sales or transfers between individuals, provided neither individual is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm under state or federal law. In a recent conversation I had with one of my colleagues, he talked about wanting to give his son a gun, knowing he had trained his child about gun safety including responsible use and storage. This bill would not interfere with that in any way. And it is not only relatives. As long as the gun owner knows that the potential recipient is not prohibited under federal or state law to own a gun, the exchange is legal.”
The passage of this bill will change absolutely nothing. Nothing, except to establish a gun registry. The goal of this bill is just that one morsel: “and create a record of each sale.” If this bill passes, everything current remains status quo…Except that the State now gets to maintain a gun registry database.
I would implore legislators to kill this bill. The bill is frivolous, deceptive, and not pressed forward in good faith. Representative Marjorie Smith is a gas lighter.
