Jacology: Universal Gun Background Checks

(KPLR) – President Obama laid out a list of proposals and actions he believes will help cut down on gun violence.

In Thursday’s Jacology, Charles Jaco on one measure he says everyone agrees on.

Of all the gun control measures out there, one has the support of just about everyone. So why isn’t it being put into law as soon as possible? Because both democrats and republicans are so scared of the gun lobby that they don’t dare support it, despite the slaughter at Sandy Hhook Elementary School.

That one measure is universal gun and ammo background checks. Right now, about 40 percent of all guns sold are sold to people who don’t undergo mandatory background checks. Gun sales at gun shows and gun sales between individuals, don’t require the background checks. They should.

The head of the National Rifle Association said Thursday that he has, quote, “no problem with expanding background checks”. A recent poll finds about 70 percent of Americans favor universal background checks. And even the firearms manufacturers themselves aren’t putting up much of a fight over it. Congress should make those background checks the law, right now.

Face it. If you sell your car to a friend, you don’t suddenly avoid paperwork. The title and registration are changed. State forms have to be filled out. The same if you sell your car to somebody else at a swap meet. So, the same should hold true for all firearms. If you sell your gun to Cousin Louie or Louie buys a gun at a gun show, then Louie should have to undergo a background check.

How would it work? Make it a requirement that every transfer of gun ownership, every single one, has to involve a federally-licensed firearms dealer who has the proper paperwork. Better yet, put the forms on line, fed immediately into an FBI/ATF database. It’s not much. But it’s something. And it’s something it seems almost everyone agrees on.

I’m Charles Jaco and that’s Jacology.