[Ed: This was first published November 4 on Dr. Faria’s site Hacienda Publishing. Edited for DRGO.]
A good approach to decrease gun violence and street crime should not involve penalizing law-abiding citizens and infringing on their Second Amendment rights while coddling criminals. And that is exactly what “Progressives” want to do. In fact, they have tried to exempt criminal gangs from the Red Flag laws they want to exact on the law-abiding citizen. It sounds incredible but it is true!
“Progressives” want to force strict background checks upon law-abiding citizens with no time limit or deadline for the FBI to issue an approval. Before the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) was instituted in 1998, the Brady Law (1994-1998) was in effect. It mandated a federal background check on all firearms purchases and imposed a five-day waiting period before the transfer of the purchased firearm. It was ineffective and did not keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Gun control is dangerous.
Incidentally, the they also instituted an “assault weapons” ban from 1994 to 2004 that had no effect on crime or mass shootings. Congress wisely let it expire and refused to re-introduce it in 2013.
The Brady Law enforcing waiting periods for gun purchases passed in several states, endangering lawful citizens needing a gun quickly for self-protection. There are lurid stories of victims killed by attackers, who were killed by the assailants that previously threatened them. They were killed while waiting to pick up newly purchased and badly needed guns for self-protection.
Universal Background Check legislation now pushed does the same thing, endangering potential victims — not to mention the fact that this legislation can be used to illegally register firearms, which we know is a prelude to banning and confiscation of firearms, as has happened in Washington DC, Detroit, New York City, Seattle, and several jurisdictions in California.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) keeps useful data available for study. Their research shows that waiting periods threaten the safety of people in imminent danger. One case described was that of Bonnie Elmasri, who tried to obtain a gun for self-protection from an abusive husband, a spouse who had repeatedly threatened to kill her. She was subjected to a 48-hour waiting period to buy a handgun. Unfortunately, Bonnie did not get her gun in time. The next day, her abusive husband, a man well known to the police, killed her and her two sons.
In yet another tragic case, Carol Bowne of New Jersey tried to purchase a gun for self-protection but was forced to wait several weeks for her background check. While fearfully waiting, the man who had been stalking her and who she was afraid would kill her, stabbed her to death.
In contrast, we have the case of Marine Corporal Rayna Ross. She was able to purchase a gun in a state without a waiting period and was forced to use it in self-defense only two days later, killing her assailant. If Corporal Ross had been subjected to a waiting period or burdensome universal background checks, like Bonnie Elmasri or Carol Bowne, she would have been defenseless against the man stalking her.
Serious attempts to decrease gun violence should involve keeping guns away from convicted criminals, who have legally forfeited their right to possess firearms. In fact, the vast majority of murderers are career criminals with long criminal records. We now know that the typical murderer has a prior criminal history of at least six years with four felony arrests in his record. But no, “Progressives” want to coddle criminals and penalize law-abiding gun owners — why?
In a recent article, Dr. James I. Ausman, Editor Emeritus of Surgical Neurology International, and I analyzed the topic in some detail: We concluded that gun control is about people control. My recently released book, America, Guns, and Freedom: A Journey Into Politics and the Public Health & Gun Control Movements, which examines the push for civilian disarmament by the public health establishment, also concludes that gun control is about people control and that it is dangerous.
If the liberal Democrats win the Presidency and the U.S. Senate in 2020, they will empower government to implement very dangerous, draconian gun control legislation. If we are to preserve freedom and keep our Republic, they must not win in 2020!
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— Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D. is a retired Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery and Adjunct Professor of Medical History at Mercer University School of Medicine. He is Associate Editor in Chief and World Affairs Editor of Surgical Neurology International. He served on the CDC’s Injury Research Grant Review Committee.