Senator Bends Truth On Background Checks

The person in the picture above is Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming). In a TV interview recently, he gave his excuse (a rather pathetic excuse) about why he voted against the Senate bill to close the loopholes in the background check law -- and his excuse was a perfect example of how many GOP senators are twisting the truth to cover their butts on this issue.

Barrasso said he had voted against the issue because the government is not enforcing the background check law that is already in place -- and to "prove" his point, he said that in 2010 about 44,000 felons and fugitives tried to buy a gun and only 40 of them were prosecuted.

I find several things wrong with his argument. First, if these were indeed felons and fugitives, then the chances are that many of them were on parole or probation. As a former parole officer, I can tell you that it is far easier to revoke a parole than prosecute a new crime. A prosecutor would have to prove the person knew they were lying, while just the fact the felon was trying to buy a firearm is good enough for a parole officer to revoke the felon (much easier to do). I suspect that many of these felons did wind up back in prison.

Second, the offense of lying to buy a gun is not considered a serious crime, or the penalties for it would have been much harsher. Even if a prosecutor was able to prove his case, the offender would not go to prison -- but would get a few months in county jail (or even be let off with some hours of community service). It's a waste of time and money for the criminal justice system, when there are many crimes waiting to be prosecuted that would result in serious prison time (murder, rape, armed robbery, burglary, etc.).

Third, the law was written to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people -- not put people in prison (or the penalties would be much sterner). And the background check law is operating as it was intended. Those 44,000 felons and fugitives were not able to legally purchase a gun because the background check that was done before the purchase had exposed them. And the figures are actually much higher than that. Between 1999 and 2009, over 1.8 million people were blocked from legally purchasing a gun because of background checks (and that probably saved many lives).

Barrasso and other GOP senators are trying to give the impression that the background check law does not work because there are so few prosecutions. But the law does work, and if the loopholes were closed that are in the current background check law, it would work even better. At least 40% of gun sales are not now subject to a background check (such as sales at gun shows and on the internet), allowing criminals and other dangerous people to easily and legally buy any kind of gun they want.

These senators need to stop obfuscating the truth, and do what 90% of Americans are asking them to do -- close the loopholes in the background check law (making it harder for dangerous people to buy a gun).