LETTER: Background checks for gun sales lacking

With regard to Pete Sesnick’s letter of Feb. 1 (”NRA’s noble cause is to protect our rights”) I found it disgusting that he should abuse the First Amendment by stating so much misinformation.

It may be correct that anyone purchasing weapons from a federally licensed firearms dealer (even at a gun show) must submit to a background check, but this represents at most about 40 percent of gun sales nationwide. Thirty states do not require background checks at all for firearms purchased at gun shows from private individuals. This is the “gunshow loophole.” Sesnick glosses over this important statistic by simply stating, “private transfer of firearms vary from state to state.” Perhaps this is one reason why the majority of guns used in crimes in New Jersey (when they can be traced) are found to have originated in the states with the loosest gun laws.

Sesnick states that “if the purpose of background checks is (to) prevent gun crime, then there exists irrefutable evidence that they don’t work.” This is an outright fabrication. One sad example is the John Hopkins University study of Missouri’s 2007 repeal of background checks. Gun violence increased significantly every year from 2008 to 2012. Following the NRA’s proposal to eliminate all background checks is pathetically stupid.

Within his description of the history of the NRA Sesnick states that the NRA, “provided training in the use of firearms to free blacks in the South so they could protect themselves from the Ku Klux Klan.” Not even the NRA acknowledges this because there has never been any evidence that this actually happened.

Sesnick’s claim that the lack of a leader in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is linked to the “Fast and Furious” operation is complete nonsense. The plight of the BATFE has been well documented and goes back decades. The NRA and the congressmen it controls neutered this organization. It remains deliberately underbudgeted, understaffed and restricted from sharing any weapons data with the general public. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also prevented from studying the health effects of gun ownership through an NRA-backed policy. This is shameful and criminal but I guess NRA members are proud of this.

Guns are dangerous in the wrong hands and the proliferation of weapons has only aggravated the situation. There must be a universal background check, registration and insurance requirements so owners always remain responsible for securing the weapon. And there should not be concern that the government knows who owns a weapon. With 300 million guns already out there, if Uncle Sam ever decides to get us they will simply shoot first.

John Andrews

MILFORD