Because The Law Stops it.

I generally have avoided talking about Jason Kilgore aka “Balrd Odinson” as simply not being worth the time or effort. His blog probably attracted less attention then mine did; even while I wasn’t posting

But every now and then, Jason writes something that is so incredibly dumb that I just have to mention it.

Back on May 11, Oregon’s new background check bill (SB941) was signed by the Governor.  At last, every gun purchase and transfer in Oregon must require a background check, including private sales.  

No longer will felons, the dangerously mentally-ill, wife-beaters, minors, or any other prohibited person be able to purchase a gun simply by answering an ad, meeting someone in a parking lot, and paying cash, with no background check.  The seller, too, will be held accountable, and will no longer be able to simply claim ignorance.

Yep, because a LAW was passed people will not be able to do something. Note this isn’t the people won’t be able to legally accomplish something, Jason is stating that it will not be possible ! I wish we had known that was all it took years ago, we could have made it against the law to rape, rob, murder…….oh wait……

This is not ignorance, this is deliberate and willful lying about what will happen. People won’t suddenly stop breaking the law. How I know that? The Obama Administration’s National Institute of Justice tells me (PDF alert)

To understand the value of background checks it is essential to understand the source of crime guns. Several sporadic attempts have been made to learn how criminals acquire guns. For example, a 2000 study by the ATF found the following distribution of sources

Source                                    Percentage
Straw purchase                    47%
Stolen                                     26%
       Store  14%
       Residence  10%
       Common carrier   2% 
Unregulated private seller  20%
Gun shows/flea markets    13%
Retail diversion 8%
             Note: Percentages do not add up to 100% since some sources fall into multiple categories (e.g. unregulated seller at a flea market)

These figures indicate informal transfers dominate the crime gun market. A perfect universal background check system can address the gun shows and might deter many unregulated private sellers. However, this does not address the largest sources (straw purchasers and theft), which would most likely become larger if background checks at gun shows and private sellers were addressed. The secondary market is the primary source of crime guns. Ludwig and Cook (2000) compared states that introduced Brady checks to those states that already had background checks and found no effect of the new background checks. They hypothesized that the background checks simply shifted to the secondary market those offenders who normally purchased in the primary market.

Ludwig and Cook (2000) compared states that introduced Brady checks to those states that already had background checks and found no effect of the new background checks. Let that sink for a minute. NO effect of the new background check laws; can we simply agree that Einstein’s Definition of Insanity applies here?

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