Bob Haase’s Another Can of Worms

Why Did the Federal Gun Legislation of 2013 Fail

Many people are probably wondering why the Federal gun legislation proposed by President Obama failed.  It was stated by the president that 90 percent of the public were in favor of this legislation.  I supported most of what President Obama was saying about the proposed gun legislation but I was opposed to many of the things that were in the bill.  Based on what you heard on television, most people would have supported it, but how many people read the bill? You can look it up on the internet and it is S.22-Gun Show Background Check Act of 2013.

 

In Sec. 932 it states that “It shall be unlawful for any person to organize, plan, promote, or operate a gun show unless the person (1) registers with the Attorney General with regulations promulgated by the Attorney General; and (2) pays a fee, in the amount determined by the Attorney General”.  In section (b) it state that the gun show promoter must before the commencement of the gun show, verify the identity of each gun show vendor by examining a valid identification document  defined in section 1028(d)(3) of this title of the vendor containing a photograph.  It also requires that each person attending the gun show be shown a document showing all the requirements of this chapter in accordance to the regulations of the Attorney General.  In short, it does a lot more than requiring background checks of persons wanting to purchase a gun.

 

In S.174 Ammunition Background Check Act of 2013 it also requires background checks of any person purchasing ammunition and it has the same basic requirement needed to purchase a gun.  When you would purchase ammunition, you would be assigned  a unique identification number for the transaction just like when you purchase a gun and it may require up to a three day waiting period.  Just think about someone who runs out of ammunition during the deer gun season and might have to wait three days to purchase more ammunition. 

 

Even though I would support common sense legislation that would require anyone purchasing a gun at a gun show to go through the same requirement as anyone purchasing a gun through a registered dealer, I don’t think it would stop the majority of the shootings we have seen lately.  Most of the people that committed these crimes would have passed the requirements to purchase the weapon and most of them did not have any prior record that would have made them suspect of committing such crimes.  Yes, there are some exceptions, but not many. 

 

If we really want to stop these senseless killings with guns, bombs, and other methods, we need to address the reasons why people are doing this.  As we found out, people can make bombs out of pressure cookers, they don’t need guns.  We have terrorist that do not value life the way most of us do, and others that just want to be heard because they feel no one is listening.

 

Finding a solution to stop these senseless killings may be impossible, but we need to try.  As long as we concentrate our efforts on controlling how these killings are taking place rather than why,  I don’t think we will ever find a solution.

 

Bob Haase is the host of “Outdoors Thursday” heard Thursday mornings at 9:10 a.m. on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ.