Story by Joe Crollard
In the United States, the right to bear arms is a value that’s deeply engrained into our society and culture. While it’s fair to say that a large majority of Americans should have the right to own a firearm, there is still great reason to believe that certain precautions should be taken to ensure that firearms don’t fall into the hands of those who may cause harm to others. That is what supporters of initiative 594 believe.
According to wagunresponsibility.org, I-594 aims to close the “gun-show loop hole”, requiring anyone that purchases a gun in Washington State to first pass a criminal background check. Current law only requires this from licensed dealers. As it stands now, anyone, including felons can purchase guns from private sellers and from events such as gun-shows with no questions asked.
While some see this is a huge problem, others believe that passing such an initiative is not just pointless, but actually damaging. Those who strongly believe this also created an initiative.
Initiative, I-591, also known as the “Support Our Gun Rights” act offers the largest opposition.
As written on wagunrights.org, I-591 “protects against illegal search and seizure, preventing politicians and bureaucrats driven by an anti-rights agenda from depriving citizens of their property without due process.” If passed, I-591 would bar background checks on private sales unless “a uniform national standard is required.”
Although the initiative offers a handful of reasons as to why background checks should not be required, the main argument seems to be the following:
Opponents of I-594 feel that the initiative is essentially a “scheme” to create a universal gun registry, forcing the names of law abiding citizens onto a government database maintained by the state department of licensing. This to many, is an invasion of privacy.
Furthermore, wagunrights.org also claims that I-594, if passed, would actually “divert law enforcement attention and resources away from keeping violent criminals off our streets and shift them to doing checks on law-abiding citizens.”
In other words, universal background checks would actually make us less safe.
While personal arguments on both sides are endless, statistical research data exists. Despite opposing claims, many studies show that states with universal backgrounds checks are in fact safer than those without.
In a recent study from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, it was discovered that the murder rate in Missouri jumped 16 percent, from 55 to 63 murders per year after repealing the state law in 2007 that required background checks on anyone purchasing a handgun.
Another study by “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” also discovered that in states that require background checks for every handgun sale, 38% fewer women were shot to death by their intimate partners. This is backed by hundreds of examples of real life violence.
One of the most noteworthy examples of gun violence involving the private purchase of a firearm is the case of Zina Daniel.
Daniel, a 42 year old woman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was killed by her estranged husband on October 12, 2012, just days after filing for a restraining order.
According to the Huffington Post, Radcliffe Haughton purchased a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun from an unlicensed seller he contacted through a website called Armslist.com. Because it was a private sale, there was no waiting period or a background check.
After receiving the firearm from the seller in a local fast-food restaurant parking lot, Haughton then drove to the salon where Zina Daniel was working. Once inside he gunned down seven women, killing his wife along with two other women. He then killed himself.
In cases of gun violence or any violence for that matter, it can always be argued that if someone really wants to
harm another person, they will find a way. However, the fact remains that in this case and in many others, firearms purchased through private sales ARE used for violent purposes.
Although there will never be a way to completely rid the world of gun violence, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. While requiring universal gun background checks in WA state won’t stop every criminal from purchasing a handgun, it will prevent some.
In 2012 it was estimated that nearly seven million guns were purchased from unlicensed “private sellers”, often at gun shows or through online transactions. That begs the question, how many of those buyers were violent criminals, mentally ill, or had restraining orders against them? How many of them went on to kill?
Whether or not you vote for or against universal background checks all depends on your personal belief system and what your take is on gun ownership in America.
Initiative I-591 and I-591 will be on the November ballot. Make your voice heard by voting.