We Don't Need More Gun Laws

 How do felons get guns?  Nobody seems to be asking that question, though if they did, it might change some of the favored policies of the gun control crowd. Tom Knighton discusses a Bangor Daily News article were they decided to actually ask the question, and the results were not what the typical member of the public might believe based on the typical mainstream media fare. Knighton's discussion, at Bearing Arms is How do felons get guns? On publication actually looked.. Of course, those in the gun rights community have known for years. A Department of Justice report spelled it out in excruciating detail

Gentle readers can read what the Bangor Daily News found at the embedded site. Knighton points out that:

However, it should be noted that the “dealers on the street” typically were selling stolen guns. The person arrested didn’t steal them, but that’s not to say they weren’t stolen.

Now, with that said, it’s important to note that on just about everything else, what was presented isn’t unlikely what we already know to be true.

I am glad that someone in the media decided to find out how guns get into the hands of criminals. But it should be obvious that felons can not buy a gun legally from a Federal Firearms Licensed dealer, and they are the only kind.  Even private sellers (people who are selling their own property) are advised to secure a National Instant Background Check System clearance unless they know the buyer.  Instead, straw purchases by people with no criminal record of their own who are vulnerable to the criminal is one way they obtain firearms. Family, some of whom may also be vulnerable is another way. But Knighton wants to discuss something else:

But let’s also address the idea of background checks for private sales. The idea that is seemingly presented here is that felons would be caught up if they were required.

The problem with that is that they already note that a lot of them get them from friends and family. In other words, they’re buying them from people who probably already know they’re prohibited from buying a firearm. That’s already a crime. You don’t need more laws.

Knighton's point is well taken. We don't need any more laws. Indeed, many of these laws are unnecessary and are just used to add charges that are then plead away. The truth is that murder, assault, brandishing and threats with a gun are already illegal. But the possession of an inanimate object should not be a crime, while the misuse of it should be taken seriously by prosecutors.