Here's my problem with expanding background checks. It has nothing to
do with the gun lobby, and no Liberal can understand it because it's
much deeper than "the Constitution says...". I'll try to keep simple
enough that they can at least follow along...
First and foremost, you have to understand that laws do not thwart
criminals from committing crimes. By definition, criminals BREAK the
law, so no law will stop or hinder a criminal seeking to harm people.
However, ill-conceived laws intended to stop criminals can actually hurt
law abiding citizens. Expanded background checks are a perfect example.
You might argue that if a lawful citizen can't pass a background check
that must not actually obey the law. That's a moot point because I'm
defending those who would pass, not those who would not. Passing is not
my concern with this issue. The fault I find in background check lies in
putting time between a free, law abiding person and the protection of
their rights. No lawful citizen should have to wait to defend themselves
or their property. Good examples would include a woman dealing with an
abusive boyfriend, stalker, etc., or a family living in a neighborhood
prone to violent crime, or anyone who has been directly threatened by
another person. Time can make all the difference if you feel threatened
and don't already have a gun or ammunition, but the bad guy does (if you
were just offended by the term "bad guy" you can stop reading now and
go color somewhere). If you have to wait a day, three days or a week to
acquire the means to protect yourself, then that background check or
waiting period can put enough time between you and protection to cause
the situation to end in harm to you or even loss of life. Case in point-
it took the state of Illinois a month to process my father's
application for his F.O.I.D. card, which he has to have before buying
and registering a gun in Illinois. Within that month's time frame, in
his own neighborhood, he and my mother drove right into a shooting in
progress, with no protection whatsoever. By the grace of God they were
able to floor it out of the shooter's path and get out of harm's way. I
can't say the same for others involved. There were several calls made to
the police, but later that night the shooter was still strutting around
the neighborhood like he owned the place. To my knowledge he was never
caught. That guy most likely went to a friend, or friend of a friend, or
a random house somewhere in town, or a parked car behind a vacant
building, handed over a wad of cash (most likely acquired by criminal
means) and left with the gun he proceeded to use against others.
Meanwhile my father, the law abiding citizen looking to protect himself,
my mother, their property and their freedom, had to wait a month to be
allowed to buy a gun, BESIDES the waiting period for the gun itself.
Look folks, the government knows instantly if you've cheated on your
taxes, and banks can run credit checks to approve or decline you for a
loan in seconds. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to find out
if you have a criminal record or a history of mental illness. And if you
can't tell if the person standing in front of you is buying on an
impulse because they want to harm someone, you need to change
professions. If you do think a customer is going to do someone harm,
call the police and let them know. Waiting periods put too much time
between a person and the ability to protect themselves. I could live
with taking ten minutes to make the verification if the government would
admit they can do it, but I also don't want the government to know that
I have any guns, or which ones. Unlike a few out there, I have no
reason to trust this government, or the last one, or the next one. If
someday down the road, some lunatic of a president gets the idea to
forcefully usher in a new era of x, y or z by taking guns and forcing
people to comply with his will, I don't want his supporters to know I
have the ability to defend myself until I can see the whites of their
eyes (thank you for understanding the significance of that reference).
The president can duck and dodge all he wants, but the fact is if the
government has to be notified of our weapons purchases, they CAN use the
information to create a registry. I'm not accusing him of planning to
do so. I don't need to. The fact is, it's a POSSIBILITY. And not just
for Obama, but for those who will come into the White House after him as
well. Liberals always deal in the here and now and refuse to look out
into the future. I refuse to consent to any powers the government wants,
that can be used to oppress the people, because they CAN lead to some nut job taking over, not because I know who and when. I don't know who or
when, and I can't know that. The fact that we can never know who or
when is a big reason that I refuse to give the government the OK to
expand background checks, giving them greater ability to keep tabs on
us. It's not about knowing it WILL happen. It's about knowing it COULD
happen. Where our lives and liberty are concerned, we should take no
chances. We know that governments have been able to turn on the people
in the past. We are the last refuge for freedom on this earth, and we
have a responsibility to ourselves and our posterity to keep liberty
alive. We can afford no games of chance.
Look, I get the "on paper" argument for expanding background checks,
but the reality is it will never work in practice, and will in fact have
the opposite of the intended effect, because criminals will continue to
operate outside of the law, and law abiding citizens will have to wait
longer to arm themselves against those criminals. The real solution to
gun violence, any violence for that matter, lies in asking WHY people
kill, and WHY people harm others at all, not WHAT WEAPON they choose to
employ. If we put time and money into why people kill we can find
better, individualized solutions to crime that center on the criminal.
Whether it's due to mental instability, or out of sudden anger (still a
mental issue) or because they see others as a mere means to an end and
kill to get things they want (still miffed up in the head), criminals
won't be swayed by laws. If we attack the real problem rather than
symptoms, we can get some real answers and come up with real solutions
for keeping our streets safe and our children alive. No killer will ever
be stopped or hindered by laws, but if we change our approach to the
subject we can find something that will actually work. If you refuse to
address the problem, you don't honestly want to fix it. Either you truly
don't understand the nature of the situation, or you need the symptom
to BE the problem, to serve some ulterior motive. I would hope that
those who wish to restrain our rights are simply ignorant idealists, but
the evidence to the contrary continues to mount. I fear they may
actually WANT us to be defenseless and vulnerable to somehow justify
bigger government takeover. That evidence is mounting as well...
As Americans, we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. We have the right to protect those rights as well. If I am
free to live, I must be free to protect my own life, so long as I do not
harm others in doing so. If I am free to enjoy liberty, I must be free
to protect my liberty, for if a cannot keep and protect my own freedom, I
am not truly free. And if I am free to pursue happiness, I must be free
to decide what makes me happy, physically, emotionally, spiritually or
otherwise, and to protect my own happiness from those who wish to take
it from me. It is not the government's job to verify WHETHER we are
allowed to defend ourselves, it is government's job to ENSURE we retain
the right and ability to defend ourselves. To be secure in our lives,
liberty and property, we must have the ability to defend ourselves from
all who may seek to encroach upon those rights. That includes
individuals as well as government. Anyone who trusts only the government
to keep them secure in their life, liberty and property has already
agreed to relinquish their rights. We have the right to defend
ourselves, and to me that right bears a great deal of responsibility as
well. So you support expanded background checks if you want, you're free
to male good decisions as well as bad ones. In the meantime I'll be
here, fighting for freedom, my right to defend myself.
Never Relinquish the Fight
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