Just another front in the Battle for the RKBA. Do those with "mental health" problems forfeit any other rights?
What really concerns me about the mental health issue is how ambiguous this and all subjects of control are. So if your wife leaves you, your dog dies, or God forbid you lose a child it's depressing and you should lose your guns? The mental health problem I'm sure goes beyond the governments obvious lack of interest in informing the Instant Check System and HIPPA laws get in the way but having a bad day or temporary event in your life getting in the way of being able to keep your guns is over the top as our government clearly is on the subject.\
This is a letter from NRA to Congress stating the failure of government to live up to it's end of the Insta Check System having the information it needs to properly screen. Read the whole thing but pay particular attention to the red highlights, and as it says, put this information to mind to use in conversation with officials and anti-gun people:
This letter was openly distributed to all members for the purpose of education and to pass to any and every person you know, so copyright does not enter the picture.
NRA's Letter to Congress Lays
Out the Real Facts
TO: NRA Members and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
USF Executive Director
NRA Past President
On February 13, 2013, the NRA sent a letter to members of the U.S. Congress concerning the White House proposals to require background checks for all firearms purchases.
The letter lays out facts that every concerned citizen needs to know -- just the facts, no fluff, no hyperbole, just simple, straight forward facts.
To view a copy of the letter from the NRA-ILA's Executive Director Chris Cox to the U.S. Congress regarding so-called "universal background checks" click here.
THESE ARE THE FACTS — READ THEM — LEARN THEM — SHARE THEM
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TALKING POINTS
NRA and NICS
The National Rifle Association supported the establishment of the National Criminal Instant Background Check System (NICS) [1], and we support it to this day. At its creation, we advocated that NICS checks be accurate; fair; and truly instant. The reason for this is that 99% of those who go through NICS checks are law-abiding citizens, who are simply trying to exercise their fundamental, individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Dealers
Since 1986, those engaged in the business of selling firearms for livelihood and profit have been required to have a Federal Firearms License (FFL). All retail sales of firearms currently require a NICS check, no matter where they occur.
Private Sales
Regarding the issue of private firearms sales, it is important to note that since 1968, it has been a federal felony for any private person to sell, trade, give, lend, rent or transfer a gun to a person he either knows or reasonably should know is not legally allowed to purchase or possess a firearm.
Mental Health Records and NICS (Government Failure)
According to a recent General Accounting Office study, as of 2011 23 states and the District of Columbia submitted less than 100 mental health records to NICS; 17 states submitted less than ten mental health records to NICS; and four states submitted no mental health records to NICS.[2]
Gun Shows
A common misrepresentation is that criminals obtain firearms through sales at gun shows.
A 1997 Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of state prison inmates who had used or possessed firearms in the course of their crimes found that 79 percent acquired their firearms from "street/illegal sources" or "friends or family."
Only 1.7 percent obtained firearms from anyone (dealer or non-dealer) at a gun show or flea market.[3]
Prosecutions (Government failure)
In 2010, the FBI denied 72,659 NICS checks out of a total of 14,409,616. But only 62 of these cases were actually prosecuted, and only 13 resulted in a conviction.[4]
"Universal Background Checks"
While the term "universal background checks" may sound reasonable on its face, the details of what such a system would entail reveal something quite different. A mandate for truly "universal" background checks would require every transfer, sale, purchase, trade, gift, rental, or loan of a firearm between all private individuals to be pre-approved by the federal government. In other words, it would criminalize all private firearms transfers, even between family members or friends who have known each other all of their lives.
According to a January 2013 report from the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Justice, the effectiveness of "universal background checks" depends on requiring gun registration.[5] In other words, the only way that the government could fully enforce such a requirement would be to mandate the registration of all firearms in private possession – a requirement that has been prohibited by federal law since 1986.
) or didn't like the idea of sleeping in the dirt.
