NRA, Democrats Team Up To Pass Gun Bill

You may have heard about this in the news: the NRA and gun control advocates have teamed up to craft a bill that both sides can agree on. The goal: tightening the NICS background check system that keeps guns out of the hands of criminals & the insane.

The measure would require states to automate their lists of convicted criminals and the mentally ill who are prohibited under a 1968 law from buying firearms, and report those lists to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.

As I'm in favor of preventing convicted felons & the insane from being able to purchase guns legally, I'm in favor of this as long as it's done right while respecting the rights of honest citizens, and allowing for a process that would enable the restoration of gun rights through petition.

The legislation requires state and federal agencies to transmit all relevant disqualifying records to the NICS database. It also provides $250 million a year over the next three years to help states meet those goals and it imposes penalties — including cuts in federal grants under an anti-crime law — on states that fail to meet benchmarks for automating their systems and supplying information to the NICS.

OK, so it's closing gaps in the system, and providing money to fix those gaps.

The bill would automatically restore the purchasing rights of veterans who were diagnosed with mental problems as part of the process of obtaining disability benefits. LaPierre said the Clinton administration put about 80,000 such veterans into the background check system.

This is very important. In addition to being an NRA member, I belong to the VCDL, and they were rather concerned that the bill include that measure. See, if you're a veteran and you come home from war, you're going to have some issues that need to be worked through, but with treatment you will have recovered enough that you should still be allowed to maintain your 2nd Ammendment rights. This portion allows for that rehabilitation.

It also outlines an appeals process for those who feel they have been wrongfully included in the system and ensures that funds allocated to improve the NICS are not used for other gun control purposes.

That part also makes a lot of sense. Let's say your name got on the list by accident, how could you petition it? This ensures that there is a way to do so.

Radical Libertarians are still opposed to this bill, but I'm pragmatic, and think that this bill would accomplish the goals of improving public safety while respecting 2nd Ammendment rights.