AuH20
06-20-2011, 06:32 AM
Hmmm. Letting sleeping dogs lie.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/obama-gun-control-giffords-arizona-shooting_n_880206.html
Some improvements could be made administratively, such as by providing states clearer guidelines on how to provide criminal information to the federal government for the background check database. Although such steps are not nearly as bold as activist groups, including the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, would like to see, they still hope to see something – and soon.
"We're coming on the six-month mark since the shooting and still nothing from the administration," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign. "It's time for some action."
Helmke and others interpreted that as support for closing what's called the "gun-show loophole," which allows private sellers to sell firearms at gun shows and elsewhere without conducting background checks. Activist groups say that some 40 percent of gun sales are conducted without background checks.
But doing that would require legislation, and the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups are adamantly opposed. The NRA has not been involved in the Justice Department talks, but the National Shooting Sports Foundation has, and a spokesman said that when they met at the Justice Department, gun-control measures didn't even come up.
"The topics discussed at the meeting were limited strictly to improving and enhancing the current background check system," said spokesman Ted Novin, explaining that closing the gun-show loophole would amount to expanding the system, not improving it, and his group doesn't support an expansion. "No gun-control measures of any kind were discussed during the meeting, nor would this organization support any such proposals that would curtail the lawful commerce of firearms or the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens," Novin said.
With that kind of opposition from gun-rights groups, an election year approaching and attention focused on the economy, prospects for congressional action are dim. And the Obama administration, in turn, appears unlikely even to try to do anything more than make modest changes that don't fundamentally alter the nation's gun policies.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/20/obama-gun-control-giffords-arizona-shooting_n_880206.html
Some improvements could be made administratively, such as by providing states clearer guidelines on how to provide criminal information to the federal government for the background check database. Although such steps are not nearly as bold as activist groups, including the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, would like to see, they still hope to see something – and soon.
"We're coming on the six-month mark since the shooting and still nothing from the administration," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign. "It's time for some action."
Helmke and others interpreted that as support for closing what's called the "gun-show loophole," which allows private sellers to sell firearms at gun shows and elsewhere without conducting background checks. Activist groups say that some 40 percent of gun sales are conducted without background checks.
But doing that would require legislation, and the National Rifle Association and other pro-gun groups are adamantly opposed. The NRA has not been involved in the Justice Department talks, but the National Shooting Sports Foundation has, and a spokesman said that when they met at the Justice Department, gun-control measures didn't even come up.
"The topics discussed at the meeting were limited strictly to improving and enhancing the current background check system," said spokesman Ted Novin, explaining that closing the gun-show loophole would amount to expanding the system, not improving it, and his group doesn't support an expansion. "No gun-control measures of any kind were discussed during the meeting, nor would this organization support any such proposals that would curtail the lawful commerce of firearms or the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens," Novin said.
With that kind of opposition from gun-rights groups, an election year approaching and attention focused on the economy, prospects for congressional action are dim. And the Obama administration, in turn, appears unlikely even to try to do anything more than make modest changes that don't fundamentally alter the nation's gun policies.