With Senators like this, I look for alternatives
We're coming up on six months since the mass shooting in Newtown, and so the debate over stronger gun laws may be
re-ignited in Congress. Pro-gun Senators like
Jeff "I'm below pond scum" Flake from my home state of Arizona, however, continue to balk at changing their position. And so I continue to look for alternative outlets for change.
The Center for American Progress offers a whole range of such alternatives in the form of executive actions the President could choose to enact on his own. He was willing to do it once, so perhaps it's time to put some pressure on Obama; there's more we can do without relying on feckless Republicans in Congress.
Republicans seem willing to hold the line against any stronger gun laws, in spite of poll results continuing to show that such gun enthusiasts are on the wrong side of the issue. The Washington Post offers a recent example, a poll from late May.
The new poll also registers potential fallout from the Senate’s recent vote to reject what had been a heavily popular measure to expand background checks of gun buyers to include gun shows and online purchases.
Two-thirds of all Americans say the Senate did the wrong thing in blocking the proposal, with majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents in agreement. Those who say the chamber did the wrong thing blame Republicans rather than President Obama by more than 3 to 1.
Footage of the confirmation hearing?
The Post also points out a recent
confirmation hearing on Tuesday for an actual ATF director, although of course Republicans aren't expected to go along with that. After all, they were willing to block a nominee from Dubya back in the day, once they did the NRA's bidding and made the ATF director subject to Senate confirmation in the first place.
As for the President, the Center for American Progress notes the 23 executive actions he signed back in January to reduce gun violence. And with the current paralysis in Congress in mind, they came up with twelve more ideas that Obama could take action on by himself.
2. Establish an alert system for failed background checks
Although “lie-and-try-to-buy” cases are generally of low priority to federal prosecutors, state and local police and prosecutors often have a great interest in learning about which prohibited individuals in their communities are trying to buy guns, particularly felons and domestic abusers. The acquisition of firearms by such individuals poses a distinct risk to public safety in those communities; local law enforcement should be informed when such individuals have attempted to buy guns so that they can decide whether to pursue state-law criminal charges, initiate investigations, or keep an eye on these individuals for signs of future criminal activity.
I wouldn't mind if federal prosecutors made these cases a higher priority, but we get the law enforcement that we pay for, and the NRA prefers that we not spend -- or get -- much. So while the federal level may again be of little help, if it can be bypassed at the state or local level, why not help the locals do what the feds can't or won't? CAP mentions that the FBI already has an alert system in place for fugitives that try to purchase guns and fail, and it can and should be extended to all of these cases. CAP also explains the utility of alerts when the dangerously mentally ill try to buy a gun and fail, that we could alert local law enforcement to a potential imminent threat.
Given that the NRA has thrown the mentally ill under the bus, maybe even they would be for such an alert system, although I doubt it.
Here's another, kind of a no-brainer, it worries me somewhat that this loophole even exists...
4. Verify the validity of a purchaser’s identification document as part of every NICS check
Individuals are required to provide proof of identity when applying to buy a firearm. There is no mechanism in place, however, for verifying that the identification document provided is, in fact, valid and properly possessed by the individual. This gap in the background-check system allows prohibited individuals to easily circumvent the federal law by purchasing firearms using a forged or fake identification document. A General Accounting Office, or GAO, investigation in 2001 highlighted this weakness in the background-check system: Investigators were able to buy guns in five states using counterfeit driver’s licenses.
CAP suggests an instant document check as part of NICS, along with checking the ID of purchasers in gun dealers' records for any falsification on the part of the dealers. Interesting, though, that in spite of this gaping loophole we still couldn't pass a universal background check.
I can't present all of CAP's ideas, but here's a third that I think bears mentioning.
8. Make disarming prohibited domestic abusers a priority
While federal law prohibits domestic-violence misdemeanants and individuals subject to certain domestic-violence restraining orders from buying or possessing guns, federal and state law-enforcement agencies have largely failed to enforce this prohibition and ensure that these individuals are relieved of any guns in their possession. Some states have enacted laws or policies to help facilitate surrender of firearms by these individuals, but these laws are often poorly enforced.
That the NRA fights to keep guns in the hands of domestic abusers, while claiming to want guns out of the hands of criminals, is well known and has been written about here before -- for example,
one of Meteor Blades' pieces from back in March. The Center for American Progress proposes that the ATF could be directed to work with local law enforcement, and develop methods for taking away the guns of domestic abusers.
So, a dozen new ways to reduce gun violence, and none of them require running the gauntlet of obstructionist Republicans in Congress. How about it, Mr. President?