ctpost.com reports that Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy hearts The Center for American Progress. “These are great proposals,”Malloy pronounced after considering CAP’s 28-point civilian disarmament plan. [After the jump.] “To be sure, not every recommendation is appropriate or feasible in every state,” CAP admits. “State laws vary widely, and states often face varying challenges when it comes to gun violence. But the list of ideas offered in this report is intended to present wide-ranging options for state executives who are committed to taking real action to address gun violence in their communities.” And trampling on American’s gun rights . . .
Strengthening background checks
- Issue guidance to licensed gun dealers to encourage them to conduct voluntary background checks on behalf of private sellers
- Require background checks for private sales at gun shows that are held on publicly owned property
- Create an interagency working group to evaluate the state’s progress in providing prohibiting records to the background check system
- Apply for federal grant funding to improve background check records
- Ensure that all domestic violence and drug abuse prohibiting records are pre-validated and flagged in the background check system
Enhanced enforcement of current laws
- Investigate and prosecute cases in which prohibited individuals attempt to purchase guns from licensed dealers and fail a background check
- Create a dedicated gun crime investigative unit in state and local police departments to focus on illegal gun trafficking and gun crime
- Create an illegal gun tip line
- Increase the use of technology to solve gun crimes and prevent shootings
- Implement de-escalation training for police officers and increase the use of independent prosecutors in investigations of police officers who use lethal force
- Implement a lethality assessment program for officers who are responding to domestic violence calls
- Implement statewide standardized protocol requiring prohibited domestic abusers to surrender all firearms in their possession
- Provide guidance to local judges to ensure that they order the surrender of firearms by domestic abusers in appropriate cases
Improved data collection and analysis
- Require state and local law enforcement agencies to trace all crime guns
- Conduct an annual review of trace data to identify the largest sources of crimeguns in the state
- Create an opt-in program for law enforcement agencies across the state toshare trace data
- Create a review commission to study every gun-related death in the state
- Improve statewide collection of crime and gun death data
Enhanced community engagement
- Implement a violence-intervention program in local hospital emergency rooms for gunshot victims
- Implement community-based programs to prevent violent crime in vulnerable communities
Enhanced oversight of gun carrying
- Conduct an annual review of concealed-carry permit reciprocity agreements with other states and rescind those agreements with states that fail to meet certain standards
- Conduct monthly background checks to ensure continued eligibility for individuals who have been issued concealed-carry permits
- Use existing criminal laws to discourage reckless acts of open carry
Enhanced regulation of the gun industry
- Increase security measures and improve other business practices of gun dealers
- Create a grading system for gun dealers that incentivizes adoption of best practices
- Use state and local buying power to encourage best practices by gun manufacturers and dealers
- Divest public funds from gun manufacturers that fail to adopt best practices
- Enforce state sales tax laws on high-volume sellers of guns who have not obtained a federal firearms license
Surprisingly not all of these are terrible ideas. Some fall under the purview of enforcing the existing laws as they are written. Some of them are completely unrealistic and bat-sh!t crazy though.
I think that pretty well sums it up. Questions of the always-present possibility–or better, likelihood–of statist overreach aside, they mostly read like pretty weak sauce. But then–monthly background checks? seriously?
It all sounds very expensive to me. I wonder if the CAP would care to mention how much this would cost.
They would claim it’s revenue neutral. Just increase the costs of the permit until it covers the costs of the overhead and problem solved. Instead of $50 make it $500. Make a tax that doesn’t look like a tax and only certain people have to pay the tax and not everyone else, and the progressives will be happy. They won’t be footing the bill, we will.
$500? Hell, $5000!! Every year! Then shorten that to 6 mos. I can outbid that! $50,000 every 3 mos. If the government has the authority to charge $5 every 20 years, then they have the authority to charge $100,000 every week. In order to get permission to exercise a right which shall not be infringed. It is ALL unconstitutional.
Kentucky has monthly background checks for CCDW license holders.
Isn’t Illinois State Police running BC not only on concealed carry licence holders, but all FOID card holders daily?
A good 60% of these suggestions sound good, but wouldn’t have any affect on crime. They would be a good way to increase bureaucracy and increase expenditures.
Databases are dangerously inaccurate l. I’ve seen addresses like: 24st St. Occupations like: Message Therpy, Massagists… etc
The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the bureaucracy.
And there you have it. Case closed! The bureaucrats need more bureaucrats. 75% of the suggestions on the list wouldn’t change crime statistics or move the needle one way or the other barely a tick. But it will create thousands of new job openings in government for paper pushers (democrats) and people to have jobs and pensions plans that we can’t afford to fund anymore for new hires to manage the forms we would need to fill out and make ordinary people stand in line like the DMV to get a picture taken or some other nonsense. Stand in line A to pick up your form, Stand in line B when it’s filled out. Stand in line C to get your picture taken and stand in line D (cashier) to pay your mandatory fee to exercise your rights on the way out. We will mail you your license in 16-20 weeks, don’t hold your breath.
>> Databases are dangerously inaccurate l. I’ve seen addresses like: 24st St. Occupations like: Message Therpy, Massagists… etc
FWIW, there are technological solutions to this sort of inaccurate data – various fuzzy match algorithms.
Not ALL of these are terrible ideas, but a lot of them are TERRIBLE ideas, as in camel’s nose terrible.
Items 1-5 relate to background checks. Since the entire purpose of background checks is to deny a person’s Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms the entire system, and these supposed tweaks to same, is unconstitutional on its face.
Items 6/7/8/12/13: Prohibited persons, illegal guns, confiscation from suspected domestic abusers – all infringe on the Second Amendment and the RKBA. I do not condone domestic abuse, by EITHER spouse, but abusers should be prosecuted for actual crimes committed, not subject to unconstitutional pre-crime confiscation of one of the tools they might possibly use to commit domestic abuse in the future.
Items 21/22/23 regarding carrying a firearm open or concealed – all such permitting or other restrictions are obvious violations of the Second Amendment “…shall not be infringed.”
Items 24/25/26/27/28 are just more statist regulations burdening an industry that is already highly regulated on the federal level. The intent would seem to be to the greatest extent possible regulate them out of business. When the difficulties and expense of complying with more and more regulations coming at you from every level of government outwieghs the profitability of the business only a fool will continue that business.
Absolutely correct.
Yeah, there is nothing in there that is nuts. Investigate and prosecute straw purchases? Well count me in!
“…shall not be infringed.”
They had me (more or less) up to number 21…
I agree. A lot of these sound like good ideas and I have no problem with their implementation.
We should be going after criminal buyers. We should have FFL’s who are willing to help private sales if an individual wants a background check before selling their firearm to a stranger. We should absolutely be keeping the NICS list up to date with correct information.
My biggest problem is that I don’t trust the source. The cat is out of the bag, they want our guns. Why trust anything they say when they’re trying to move the ball towards their end zone?
NICS is completely worthless, a waste of taxpayer money. How do we get rid of it? We do not need to worry about how to persecute violators of a law which makes no sense and is unconstitutional.
Hmmm. I was expecting the usually extreme ‘RAWR’ nonsense. I didn’t have issue with a few of those. Maybe I need to increase my medication 😉
Problem is, any power government has will, sooner or later, be abused.
Brought to by John Podesta aka Clinton’s Lacky, and George Soros.
Bet they worked real hard on those ideas. Thankfully the founders of the country were much smarter.
Russia had the right idea shutting down Soros and freezing all the assets of his various globalist initiatives in their country. Lets just hope they send out a FSB hit squad.
That is one guy who is very dangerous to America and Liberty.
Kill all those who insult
IslamLiberty!Wow! Not one thing about high capacity clipazines or the shoulder thingy that goes up…
Impressive.
That’s because they know they get used up once they run out of .9mm or .223mm.
Shall we do a 28 point breakdown on why this is a complete flop?
Hmmm….. may I?
Items 1 through 5 are simple enough. Nothing in there to compel the criminals to comply so they help how, exactly?
Items 6 through 13 are even simpler. You just admitted there are current laws making all those things you are on about illegal. Kinda makes your request to add some more laws seems silly, doesn’t it?
Items 14 – Why? How does ‘tracing crime guns’ help? The very idea implies that someone other than the shooter is responsible for the crime.
Item 15, see item 14.
Item 16, See item 14.
Item 17, a Review Commission? Really? So more bureaucracy is the answer?
Item 18, did you just tell us that police aren’t collecting sufficient crime data now?
Item 19, bit late if they are already in the ER, doncha think?
Item 20, I like this idea. How about a community-based program of teaching people in vulnerable communities how to properly handle firearms? How about teaching them to be able to take care of themselves, teaching them to be able to shoot back?
Item 21, meh. See item 17 above about adding to the bureaucracy.
Item 22, Monthly? Really? Sure, because we are all just criminals waiting for the chance to go on a shooting spree! See, again, item 17 about adding to the bureaucracy. And also look up the concept of Due Process of Law, innocent until proven otherwise.
Item 23, besides being vague you just admitted, again, that there are already laws in place to prevent the very thing you seem to want to make laws to cover.
Items 24 through 28, whatever. Are you even aware of the fact that ‘state and local buying power’ of firearms is the smallest percentage of sales for any firearms manufacturer?
“19. Implement a violence-intervention program in local hospital emergency rooms for gunshot victims”
huh?
Amusing. I already have a violence intervention program. I carry it with me everyday.
While I think many are actually not bad idea’s, I don’t think it will impact the use of guns by criminals in the least.
Example “22. Conduct monthly background checks to ensure continued eligibility for individuals who have been issued concealed-carry permits”
I get it. I am in IT, simple automated monthly batch job that checks CCW holders criminal records and produces a report of new violates. Some CCW owner commits a real crime, a crime that would not allow them to get a CCW now if they were trying to get one. So its revoked, legally. Do you think it matters to them? Are you going to knock on their door and ask for their permit? It they are bent on using a gun in a crime are they now going to say “well gee I lost my CCW so I can do this now”???
14. Has this ever solved a crime?
Please add:
29. Lifetime revocation of firearm possession rights for all politicians and law enforcement that propose legislation that infringes on 2A.
Rand, Point of Order. Your recommendation #29 is in itself a violation of the Second Amendment. Please report to your local pre-crime department and turn in all of your firearms.
There is a fix, though: 29. Any political officer, either elected or appointed, who votes in favor of any legislation, law or regulation later found to be in violation of the Second Amendment of the Constitutional of the United States of America shall be immediately removed from his position and shall for the remainder of their lifetime be ineligible to hold any position or office paid for by public funds.
“Items 14 – Why? How does ‘tracing crime guns’ help?”
They want an eventual ‘paper trail’ on every firearm.
They will claim it will help police solve crimes, but it’s real purpose will be to generate a database of firearms for confiscation.
You misspelled it…much like commonsense (which my phone just autocorrected to something else until I forced it) the term used was “crimeguns”. Whatever the hell that means. Sounds like the name of a prog rock band to me.
*yawn* 🙂
28 points, and not a single one will do anything at all to prevent evil, violent people from doing evil, violent things, with guns.
Picky, picky, picky.
It’s for the CHILDREN!
Look at this baby!
How about a hi ho go F yourself citizen group think. Here’s the deal. 2A as written. Zero background check. Tax credit of 3000 dollars for CCW carry and if you stop a crime with a gun you get another tax credit of $10,000.00. If you engage Jihadist and win, you pay no taxes that year.
Crime will be just above zero. And terrorists will stay in Europe.
It is apparent that these guys don’t know how guns are traced. They have seen too many TV shows or movies where the good guy spouts some moronic line like “the gun’s legally registered”, so they think all guns everywhere are registered. If implemented according to our very manual trace system, all that tracing would bring the system to its knees. Same for the background checks. If they did monthly checks on the tens of thousands of permit holders in a typical shall issue state’s jurisdiction, the system would collapse! It would be funny to watch until they asked for more money to ‘improve’ things.
“… It would be funny to watch until they asked for more money to ‘improve’ things.”
They already asked for more money, right there in number 4. “Apply for federal grant funding to improve….”
They haven’t even started and they are asking for more money. Their default position is more State and more Federal monies to pay for the more State.
#4 & 5 may as well since background checks are in constant use across the country, and will likely remain that way. Not point in having an bad system with outdated information.
#8 Not sure how much use an illegal gun tip line would get but as long as not too many anti-2A’s know about could be an effective tool in actually stopping some illegal firearms.
The rest of them not so much of good ideas
S T O P – U S I N G – O U R – F L A G
C_AP
PROGRESS = COMMUNISM
PROGRESSIVES = COMMUNISTS
HISTORICALLY, WHEN THEY F WITH US, THE U.S. KILLS COMMUNISTS AT WILL AND ON SIGHT, OPEN SEASON, NO BAG LIMIT, NO TAG.
FUCAP
how would more paper pushing do anything?oh right what was I thinking its the government
“Conduct monthly background checks on those with CCW permits”
LOL. What a waste of time and resources.
The single most law-abiding demographic in the country, carry license holders. The money involved would be better spent hiring a private investigator to look into the secret activities of every politician every month.
Under the second section “Enhanced enforcement of current laws” should be added………….. oh, wait, if law enforcement and prosecutors just DID enforce current laws that add years to sentences for use of a firearm in the commission of many crimes, or truly locked up the criminals instead of letting them right back out with a slap on the wrist, we just might see a reduction in “gun violence.”
This whole screed is focused on the gun, and not on the person who commits the crime or manipulates the inanimate object to commit “gun violence.” THAT, my friends, is what is totally wrong with this list.
I believe Smith and Wesson tried this once upon a time .. how did that work out for them?
I know who I will be targeting when the shooting starts.
It seems to me that many of the items are already being done.
1. They already want to so they can get the transfer fee. Don’t be daft.
2. People will go across the street to the McDonald’s.
3. Talk to the FBI.
4. What? States do not perform these background checks, and if they do, they talk to the FBI.
5. Pre-validated? That’s not possible. Either they are valid or they are not. You mean prioritize entry? Maybe.
6. If it is a crime, it is already illegal. Prosecutors prosecute everything they can. Rest assured, little fraidy-cat.
7. LEOs and their organizations definitely have resources to do this. Forget about all that robbery nonsense.
8. Already exists, dial 911 or click ‘contact us’ on the BATFE website.
9. Gotcha. We’ll just put all this shiny shit from the ballistics lab back in the box and ask for an upgrade.
10. The only intelligent point. Everyone, please note this point. Oh, right, we already have started.
11. Don’t shoot, we’re only disagreeing!
12. Already in place and active. Perhaps you’d like to volunteer your personal time to do more of it?
13. See Response #12.
14. Define crimeguns please. Also, already done when appropriate.
15. Theft is almost certainly the largest source.
16. A little more redundant government never hurt anyone.
17. Have at it, this is your gimmie.
18. We can’t trust states to do this, since they already fiddle with the numbers or don’t report at all to the FBI.
19. What everyone needs when suffering from a GSW is a talking-to about violence since they may not be familiar with the consequences.
20. All our previous efforts in this arena have been terribly effective. See your own recommendations 1-19, 21-24.
21. Permit holders are far less likely to perpetrate a crime. Do you only want perpetratourists?
22. Who would pay? The often cited Government grants? Also, OPM data breach.
23. Only if they’re reckless, though.
24. Needs a higher ratio of specificity to shift the paradigm to a more consistenttttttttttttt.. Sorry I fell asleep.
25. See Response #24. Also, what is the point?
26. Best practices according to whom?
27. The state can manage its finan… Well, maybe not. Also, profit. Don’t you like profit?
28. The state wrings every dollar it can out of taxpayers, of this you can be certain.
6. If it is a crime, it is already illegal. Prosecutors prosecute everything they can. Rest assured, little fraidy-cat.
Actually, I think that they have a point here. A lot of gun related crimes go unprosecuted. Not everywhere – Maricopa County, AZ apparently does a good job of going for sentence enhancements when firearms are involved, and, esp. when you have felons in possession (of a firearm). I know of one female felon who got an extra 5 years for merely possessing a handgun, and not using it, or even apparently displaying it, when doing the drug business she ultimately was busted for. And, surprisingly, felon Freddie Gray, who died after fleeing the police, had been arrested for an illegal weapon, and was on his way to jail, when he was supposedly fatally injured.
But, that is the problem also – the cities with the biggest inner city gang problems tend to have the biggest presence of apologists for their (mostly black) gang members, and in those cities there is often a lot of political pressure not to prosecute for mere felon in possession, or to utilize gun related sentence enhancements.
“8. Create an illegal gun tip line”
Why would they want a “gun tip line” that was illegal. Tip lines ought the be legal.
/sarc
Yeah, I’d love a line I could call for tips about guns. Now, do you think they are talking about tips on which gun would be the best for me (or someone else)? Or do you think the tips would be about how to improve your aim, etc?
These were my favorites:
26. Use state and local buying power to encourage best practices by gun manufacturers and dealers
27. Divest public funds from gun manufacturers that fail to adopt best practices
28. Enforce state sales tax laws on high-volume sellers of guns who have not obtained a federal firearms license
#26 seems to be saying that the govt. should buy guns from the companies that are the most politically correct. But, the logical correlation there is that they buy inferior firearms for their law enforcement officers at higher prices just to make this point. Wouldn’t want to be one of their LEOs.
#27 seems to be saying that they would disinvest from companies that piss them off. But, governments don’t really invest money. Rather, their pension plans do. And, inevitably, disinvestment results in a lower return on investments. So, they are essentially suggesting increasing the underfunding of their pension plans (likely increasing the likelihood of bankruptcy down the road) in order to harm these companies a minor amount – except that this sort of boycott is the thing that increases gun sales for the company being boycotted. So, we are back to increasing government pension underfunding as the advantage, traded off against increased sales by the object of the boycott.
#28 – Wonder if they have figured out yet that high volume gun dealers already either are federally licensed or committing federal crimes. Already. They don’t have to increase taxes on them – all they need to do is throw them in jail. Which is to say that this is all malarkey, since those high volume gun dealers are already going to be licensed.
1) Issue guidance to licensed gun dealers to encourage them to conduct voluntary background checks on behalf of private sellers
Silly all the way around. Why would someone want to do a background check? You do them because the govt. demands that they be done. Yes – maybe in a one in a million situation, you have a sketchy buyer, but then, why not just walk away if it bothers you.
And, who is going to pay for this stuff? Oh, the licensed dealers. I am sure that they are excited about that. But, why should they do this service for free? Because they are so civic natured?
2) Require background checks for private sales at gun shows that are held on publicly owned property
This might be plausible. But, of course, there just aren’t that many transactions at gun shows that would benefit from that, because most of the people selling guns at such have to be federally licensed already. This is almost entirely cosmetic. And, would essentially mean that that publicly owned property cannot rent for as much as it would otherwise, which means that this attempt at shifting the cost would, of course, fail.
Enhanced oversight of gun carrying
21. Conduct an annual review of concealed-carry permit reciprocity agreements with other states and rescind those agreements with states that fail to meet certain standards
Cheap, and who can complain? This is probably being done anyway.
22. Conduct monthly background checks to ensure continued eligibility for individuals who have been issued concealed-carry permits
Just what we need – clogging the background checking systems to double check the demographic most likely to have clean records every month.We are probably talking tens of millions of extra background checks every month, and for what? And who would pay for it?
23. Use existing criminal laws to discourage reckless acts of open carry
Yeh – I remember this in the City and County of Denver. If you could see the butt of the gun in a holster, it was brandishing, and otherwise, you needed a concealed carry permit – which the county would only give to close friends of the mayor (or of the sheriff whom the mayor appointed). What is a reckless instance of open carry? I suspect that they mean someone seen open carrying by someone who doesn’t like guns.
the three points that I completely disagree with are 6, 22, and 23. Six I disagree with because I have had family members that had problems with drugs earlier in their life and then they decided to go and buy a gun since from what he understood he would be clear to purchase one. He failed the test and under that ruling he would be prosecuted and could end up in jail. As for 22 come on now month to month tests they must be some kind of stupid to think that everyone is going to go in every month to re apply. Lastly 23, define reckless. That’s what they don’t want to do cause reckless open carry to them would be strapping an AR on your back and walking out. They don’t understand that that isn’t reckless open carry its just open carry. I personally wouldn’t do that because I don’t feel the need to however I’m fine with anyone who chooses to. Open carry with a rifle is no more illegal or legal than open carrying with a handgun. These are my thoughts in those three points.
25. Create a grading system for gun dealers that incentivizes adoption of best practices
“What are they going to do, give you some big bad piggy points?”
#1 “conduct voluntary background checks.” While “private sales” is mentioned, this is really a “may sell” scheme. As over 98% pass the NICS background check. the plan will be to go after the LGS whenever there’s a shooting. That will be based on not doing a “voluntary background check.”
#6 “Prosecute those that fail a background check.” Given, in 2012 only 13 guilty pleas were obtained out of over 70,000 denials. Point is, 98% of the denials aren’t sent to prosecution.
#21 “Reciprical concealed carry” while this sounds good, note that the standard isn’t listed. Only that some states could be rejected. My read is the bar to obtain a CCW will to “may issue” as found in NJ, or DC.
I hope they find the same success with the war on guns as was achieved in their war on poverty, their war on drugs and their current differences with terrorists.
“Investigate and prosecute cases in which prohibited individuals attempt to purchase guns from licensed dealers and fail a background check”
So you’re saying they should actually enforce the law? Who would have thought of such a thing
People always cheap out on the side plates.
I am a blue collar type worker. I try to keep two jobs at all time for financial security reasons. The pro-2A medical courier company I worked for lost its only contract to another company that actually bid much more (shitty story). I have now found that every company I get an offer from is rabidly anti-employee carry. Even a gun salesman job at Cabelas is a mandated and checked unarmed job. The manager there told me, with a straight face it was so that if “somebody came in and started shooting up the place their employees wouldn’t be targets”. I asked him if they told their self defense theories to their gun customers. I also heard that HomeDepot won’t even let employees carry pocket knives. I am about to accept a job at one of these employee disarmers. I feel like puking. I will of course carry my smallest gun concealed and I expect not to last there too long, I hear tattling is rampant. I am an ardent capitalist and property rights advocate but I sure hate most of corporate America.
.308 sails right through that vest. Go big or go home
When I played criminal, I carried a handgun anywhere, concealed. Laws were ” ah shit I got caught”. When are these anti gun types going to learn gun laws make law abiding criminals and real criminals don’t care about laws
How does a 2-star accuracy rating warrant a 4-star overall?