GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE, OR DO THEY?

[HairOfTheDog]

This video is worth the 10 minutes of your time to watch.
One portion I thought was nice to know is about the so called 40% of gun sales are done at a gunshow with no background check. While I try to know as much about this topic as I can, I did not know that statistic came from a time when background checks were not required at all.
I all sowas unaware that only 1.9% of firearms used in a crime were purchased at a gunshow.

Warning F.U., long post ahead! I think this is an important topic in the overall gun control debate.

While somewhere near 40% of ALL gun sales may be through private transactions not requiring a background check, certainly not all private transactions occurs at gun shows. Labeling the 40% statistic as the "gunshow loophole" is also therefore very misleading (I don't know if the label came before or after Columbine, but I suspect it was after).

"40% of all guns are purchased through private sellers who are not required to run a background check on buyers, according to the best available statistics" would be a more accurate statement.

So how reliable is the data behind the "40% no background check” statistic even when it’s cited accurately? Not very, in my view. The data was gathered from a very small sample of gun owners in private households (251) more than 15 years ago. Any stat is only as solid as the data supporting it. New research needs to be done to more accurately reflect where and how the public is getting its guns, in my opinion.

More importantly, to me, is finding out where and how CRIMINALS get their guns. I found the data below to be interesting.

Snipped:
Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, will report data from a 2004 survey of inmates in state prisons in a chapter in a book titled “Reducing Gun Violence in America,” to be published Jan. 28 by Johns Hopkins Press.

The offenders were incarcerated from crimes committed with handguns, and this is how they reported how they obtained the guns:
-Licensed gun dealer: 11 percent (legal w/ background check)
-Friends or family: 39.5 percent (legal w/o background check)
-“The street:” 37.5 percent (illegal w/o background check)
-Stolen gun: 9.9 percent (illegal w/o background check)
-Gun show/Flea market: 1.7 percent
(legal, some with background check and some through private seller w/o background check).

Reference/Source:
http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/201...52462.html

I don’t know how big the sample size was for this criminal survey, but it shows that appx. 75% of criminals get their guns either legally or illegally through channels that don’t require background checks.

While limiting the private transaction requirement for background checks to gun shows is in actuality a small step, it may be all that gun control advocates feel they can get passed or have enforced at this time. I support this new background check requirement, btw, however I'm aware that its impact is much lesser than some politicians and media would have me believe.

Extending the background check requirements to all non-licensed transactions, stronger enforcement and severe penalties against straw purchases (and attempted purchases), and stricter enforcement of mental illness reporting requirements to NICS are the best ways to minimize gun violence as much as possible. Restricting the vast majority of the population which is law-abiding and mentally stable from certain types of guns, on the other hand, will not reduce gun violence, in my opinion. Bans haven't accomplished their goals in the past and there's been nothing presented that indicates that they would be more effective today.

Will any measures stop seasoned determined criminals from getting ahold of guns and committing crimes? No, they have their own channels. But, extending the background check requirements and better enforcement of existing laws will prevent some unqualified owners from getting ahold of guns before they have the opportunity to commit crimes. This applies equally to the statistically rare spree-killer and anyone else who doesn't have direct access to illegal channels.

I'm still open-minded regarding any proposals to reduce gun violence; these are just my conclusions/opinions based on research and evaluation since the Newton shooting.