National Carry AcademyDid NRA Pressure Affect the Fix NCIs Bill?
February 15, 2019
Photo courtesy of gettyimages.com
Hailed as the “Fix NICs Act” public pressure may have had an effect on the National Reciprocity Act. Passed in December the aim of this law is to strengthen background checks so that dangerous indviduals will not be able to purchase guns legally. Who are deemed dangerous? Convicted criminals, those who have been committed to mental institutions, people who have received dishonorable discharges, and drug addicts.
The former act, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, was aimed at building a list of those who should not be allowed to buy guns legally failed to achieve its goal. Local sheriffs, police, military…anyone in the front lines who were tasked with filing report to the central data base chose not to do these reports or were not able to keep up to date on the filing because of a lack of labor force, funding, or time to do so. Consequently, the data base had gaps.
These gaps became embarrassingly obvious when those involved in mass shootings should have been flagged.
What will change? Not much if you listen to critics of this law. The people in charge of the database are no longer FBI. They are NICs. This means FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Is there much change? The carrot—or the stick—to coherse local law enforcement to file is the same. State grants did not encourage filing before. Why would it now?
In a surprise move the president opposed the stand of the National Rifle Association on this issue. The NRA opposes the new “Fix NICs” law on several levels.
They see it as just another in a series of attempts to expand gun laws. They contend that those who cannot legally own guns according to the new law wouldn’t be buying them legally anyway. Thus, the law just makes it more difficult for law abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
In the days after the murder of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the public pressure for tougher gun control again increased. Gun control advocates pushed for better gun control and faster.
The new law requires a background check for every legal gun sale. Private sellers must verify the buyer of any gun is not someone prohibited from buying a firearm. The only exemptions are for law enforcement and sales to family members. The NRA sees this as cumbersome, time-consuming, and punitive for both seller and buyer.
The NRA backed the original Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act which Congress passed in December, 2017. This act would allow anyone who could legally carry a concealed gun in one state to carry a concealed gun in other states.
Gun control advocates cried foul. They said that the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would force Americans to live with the weakest state’s laws regarding concealed carry. They find it particularly alarming that some states don’t require handgun training, a background check, or even a permit, to carry a concealed gun.
The background check issue is the topic of hot discussion. Paul Ryan in an attempt to please both sides of the argument suggested that the Senate accept the H0use of Representative’s version of “Fix NICs”. This includes concealed carry reciprocity. If the Senate doesn’t agree then things could be at a serious standstill for the “Fix NICs” bill.
The president also supports raising age limit for semi-automatic rifles to twenty-one.
Did NRA Pressure Affect the Fix NCIs Bill?
February 15, 2019
Photo courtesy of gettyimages.com
Hailed as the “Fix NICs Act” public pressure may have had an effect on the National Reciprocity Act. Passed in December the aim of this law is to strengthen background checks so that dangerous indviduals will not be able to purchase guns legally. Who are deemed dangerous? Convicted criminals, those who have been committed to mental institutions, people who have received dishonorable discharges, and drug addicts.
The former act, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, was aimed at building a list of those who should not be allowed to buy guns legally failed to achieve its goal. Local sheriffs, police, military…anyone in the front lines who were tasked with filing report to the central data base chose not to do these reports or were not able to keep up to date on the filing because of a lack of labor force, funding, or time to do so. Consequently, the data base had gaps.
These gaps became embarrassingly obvious when those involved in mass shootings should have been flagged.
What will change? Not much if you listen to critics of this law. The people in charge of the database are no longer FBI. They are NICs. This means FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Is there much change? The carrot—or the stick—to coherse local law enforcement to file is the same. State grants did not encourage filing before. Why would it now?
In a surprise move the president opposed the stand of the National Rifle Association on this issue. The NRA opposes the new “Fix NICs” law on several levels.
They see it as just another in a series of attempts to expand gun laws. They contend that those who cannot legally own guns according to the new law wouldn’t be buying them legally anyway. Thus, the law just makes it more difficult for law abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
In the days after the murder of 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the public pressure for tougher gun control again increased. Gun control advocates pushed for better gun control and faster.
The new law requires a background check for every legal gun sale. Private sellers must verify the buyer of any gun is not someone prohibited from buying a firearm. The only exemptions are for law enforcement and sales to family members. The NRA sees this as cumbersome, time-consuming, and punitive for both seller and buyer.
The NRA backed the original Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act which Congress passed in December, 2017. This act would allow anyone who could legally carry a concealed gun in one state to carry a concealed gun in other states.
Gun control advocates cried foul. They said that the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act would force Americans to live with the weakest state’s laws regarding concealed carry. They find it particularly alarming that some states don’t require handgun training, a background check, or even a permit, to carry a concealed gun.
The background check issue is the topic of hot discussion. Paul Ryan in an attempt to please both sides of the argument suggested that the Senate accept the H0use of Representative’s version of “Fix NICs”. This includes concealed carry reciprocity. If the Senate doesn’t agree then things could be at a serious standstill for the “Fix NICs” bill.
The president also supports raising age limit for semi-automatic rifles to twenty-one.