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Gun Laws: Why Not Enforce What We Have?

April 2, 2021 by Leave a Comment

This is not a story about Hunter Biden. No, in this post, Hunter is simply a proxy for what’s wrong with the common-sense gun laws chant. It ignores a big problem with gun laws: Too often, they are not enforced, and even when they are, enforcement is often not evenhanded. The powerful, the connected, get waved through. The rest of us, well that’s why we have little people.

Case in point: Hunter Biden and his missing .38 revolver. From Politico:

POLITICO obtained copies of the Firearms Transaction Record and a receipt for the gun dated Oct. 12, 2018.

Hunter responded “no” to a question on the transaction record that asks, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?” Five years earlier, he had been discharged from the Navy Reserve after testing positive for cocaine, and he and family members have spoken about his history of drug use.

Lying on the form is a felony, though prosecutions for it are exceedingly rare.

Take a look at the the first paragraph of the 2018 GAO report at that “exceedingly rare” link. Politico wasn’t kidding:

Investigations and prosecutions. Federal and selected state law enforcement agencies that process firearm-related background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) collectively investigate and prosecute a small percentage of individuals who falsify information on a firearms form (e.g., do not disclose a felony conviction) and are denied a purchase. Federal NICS checks resulted in about 112,000 denied transactions in fiscal year 2017, of which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) referred about 12,700 to its field divisions for further investigation. U.S. Attorney’s Offices (USAO) had prosecuted [just] 12 of these cases as of June 2018. (Emphasis supplied)

See the problem? All the time, I mean all the time, people complain about how that shooter got this gun or this shooter got that one? Here’s a guy–a well-connected guy, no less–who apparently lied and thereby skirted the vaunted background check, and everybody knows about it now–and yet, he’s free.

For now. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be charged sometime in the future. But now, he’s just one among hundreds of thousands of persons who are not being prosecuted for giving false information on Form 4473, the Firearms Transaction Record, the form that initiates the background check. Want to get serious about background checks? Get serious about prosecuting lies on Form 4473.

By the way, how would you respond to the questions on Form 4473? Check yourself out at the link. Hunter’s apparent lie was in response to question 21 e. on the form.

Filed Under: 2nd Amendment, Firearms, NFA Firearms Tagged With: , ,

Domestic Abuse(r) Beat Down

December 13, 2019 by Leave a Comment

“There ought’a be a law!”

There is:

Domestic Violence Abuser Sentenced to 10 Years For Unlawful Possession of a Firearm
 
A convicted domestic violence offender discovered with a firearm was sentenced last week to 10 years in federal prison, the statutory maximum sentence, following an investigation by the ATF Dallas Division, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.  

Desmond Greer, 26, pleaded guilty in March to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Dallas County Court records show that in in 2016, Mr. Greer was twice convicted of Assault Family Violence after repeatedly punching and choking the 22-year-old mother of his children – two offenses that disqualified him from having a gun.

In fact, that law is used quite frequently.

KCK Man Sentenced to 7+ Years for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas City, Kan., who barricaded himself in an apartment when police responded to a call of a domestic disturbance, was sentenced today to 94 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

Nikko D. Pike, 38, Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. In his plea, he admitted that on April 2, 2017, he was involved in a domestic disturbance with a woman. During the argument he discharged a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson that required the victim to seek treatment in an emergency room at University of Kansas Medical Center.

Filed Under: 2nd Amendment, Firearms Tagged With: ,

ATF 41P Becomes 41F: And the final answer is . . . .

January 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment

So Attorney General Loretta Lynch put her pen to paper yesterday, and the ATF’s proposed rule 41P became its final rule 41F–with modifications. Here’s my first take: There’s best news, good news, and bad news. 

The best news is two-fold: 1. the final rule does not become effective until 180 days after its publication in the Federal Register, and 2. the final rule eliminates the need for your local CLEO’s signature, though it does require notification of the CLEO.

The good news is that your existing NFA gun trust remains an effective tool for managing and sharing your NFA arms, especially for the next 180 days, but even after that–assuming it’s drafted properly. Given that the effective date is at least 180 days off, you should be able to purchase and handle your NFA firearms as you have in the past–assuming, of course, that you’ve done that legally–for at least the next six months.

The bad news is that the new rule, besides eliminating the CLEO signature requirement, also introduces a new definition– “responsible person” –into the mix. Persons in a trust and other legal entities (LLCs etc.) who meet the definition of a “responsible person” will need to undergo a background check, including providing fingerprints and photo, whenever they purchase or transfer an NFA item, much like individuals do now.

The term “responsible person” very clearly includes the Grantor/Trustee. It somewhat less clearly does not include many or most beneficiaries. Thus, if you’re the grantor and trustee of your NFA trust, you will clearly be a “responsible person” when the rule becomes effective; your beneficiaries will probably not.

As for persons you may appoint as co-trustees, for the moment, they occupy a grey area–again, when the rule becomes effective. The rule itself seems quite clear, but much of the ATF commentary that accompanies the rule muddies the water (the rule and commentary run 248 pages, only 10 of which are part of the actual rule). I want to study the document and resulting issues more thoroughly before I give my final answer on the “muddier” questions.

So consider this a heads up. I’ll keep you informed as things and my thinking develop. But to repeat: the effective date of the rule is at least 180 days out, so those with an existing NFA trust have plenty of time to adjust things if needed.

 

Filed Under: 2nd Amendment, 41F, Bill of Rights, Firearms, Gun Trusts, NFA Trusts Tagged With: , , , ,
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