Background-check bill deepens divide

[Elderberry]

Albuquerque Journal by Khalil J. Spencer

Laws work best when we believe in their fairness. It is advisable to build consensus when crafting legislation. In the case of New Mexico’s new universal background check law, the opposite of consensus building occurred. In an act that has been repeated elsewhere in the U.S., urban and rural constituencies have rejected each other’s thinking with polarizing results.

This latest round of discord has been covered in the media, to wit, the governor’s and attorney general’s admonishment to Second Amendment sanctuary counties to enforce the law. But I doubt more political posturing will bring people together. What, may I ask, could have? Here are several suggestions our legislators ignored:

More: https://www.abqjournal.com/1314748/backgroundcheck-bill-deepens-divide.html

[Elderberry]

https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2019/05/realities-gun-background-check-system/

From Personal Defense World Magazine
May 8, 2019
The Realities and Facts of Today’s Gun Background Check System

The gun background check system, known as NICS, ensures that prohibitited individuals can't purchase firearms, but many don't understand how it works.
By Laura Schmitz

For decades, local and national legislation has attempted to balance the constitutional right to carry guns with the requirement that gun owners use them lawfully. This balance is struck through the gun background checks processed via the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

Your Local Security looked at the evolution of the background check’s role in purchasing firearms, and our analysis of NICS data, taken from the American Community Survey’s 2017 one-year estimates, uncovered some interesting facts about gun-buying patterns across the country.
State & Season

The total number of background checks has risen steadily for nearly the past 20 years; there was a slight decrease in 2017. In 2018, Federal Firearms License dealers initiated more than 23 million background checks. However, there are significant variations in how many requests came in from each state.

Kentucky generated far more than any other state — 4,508,298 to be exact. That’s not necessarily because more gun owners reside in the Bluegrass State than elsewhere in the country. Rather, Kentucky has more background checks per capita because it is the only state that requires every concealed-carry permit holder to undergo automatic monthly rechecks.

YLS also found some clear trends in the days, weeks and months with the highest number of background checks over the past two decades. December, in fact, is one of the busiest months, with four of the top 10 weeks. We can’t say for sure that it’s due to Thanksgiving sales, six of the top 10 days have occurred on a Black Friday; November 24, 2017, had the highest number of background checks on any single day.

More at link.

[verga]

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