The news media is reporting that a federal “universal background checks” for private firearms sales/purchases bill has been passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a straight party line vote. The bill is sponsored by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat who represents New York. The full text of the bill as it was revised by the committee is available on this site on its own page. There is a link to the full text of the bill at the end of this article. The bill number is S. 374 .RS, meaning that it is a revised version of the bill as originally introduced in the Senate. This bill, a few others that address related attempts to restrict civilian gun ownership at the federal level, and Dianne Feinsteins’s updated so called “assault weapons ban” bill represent the latest fronts in the heated political battle to stop the opportunistic gun ban zealot political faction as they try to exploit the mass shooting tragedy that occurred in Sandy Hook, Connecticut on December 14, 2012.
Senator Schumer's gun sales restriction bill, requires that every firearm be taken to an FFL licensed firearms dealer who would then act as a form of bailment transferor of the firearm to the buyer, called a “transferee” in the language of the bill and existing federal firearm statutory law (see 18 U.S.C. § 922). According to the exact language of the bill, pursuant to the bill, a firearm seller would be required to physically deliver the firearm to be sold to a licensed FFL dealer (gun shop person) who then perform the NICS so called instant background check on the buyer (they aren’t always so instant), who then does all the paperwork ( using ATF form 4473), and must follow all the statutory rules as though the gun shop were selling the firearm itself. Here is the exact text from the bill that describes this procedure:
(t)(1) Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, it shall be unlawful for any person who is not licensed under this chapter to transfer a firearm to any other person who is not licensed under this chapter, unless a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer has first taken possession of the firearm for the purpose of complying with subsection (s). Upon taking possession of the firearm, the licensee shall comply with all requirements of this chapter as if the licensee were transferring the firearm from the licensee's inventory to the unlicensed transferee.
Schumer's bill involves a fee to be charged by the FFL dealer. The bill also requires recordation of the sale/transfer to be maintained by the ATF. The relevant portion of the bill states, as follows:
`(B) Regulations promulgated under this paragraph--
`(i) shall include a provision setting a maximum fee that may be charged by licensees for services provided in accordance with paragraph (1); and
`(ii) shall include a provision requiring a record of transaction of any transfer that occurred between an unlicensed transferor and unlicensed transferee accordance with paragraph (1).'.
Unfortunately, Schumer's bill does not set a fixed maximum fee for the transfer service, so the fee could be any amount set by the "Attorney General".
The bill also makes it a federal crime not to report a stolen firearm within 24 hours of discovering it stolen, as described in the following text:
`(aa) It shall be unlawful for any person who lawfully possesses or owns a firearm that has been shipped or transported in, or has been possessed in or affecting, interstate or foreign commerce, to fail to report the theft or loss of the firearm, within 24 hours after the person discovers the theft or loss, to the Attorney General and to the appropriate local authorities.'.
(b) Penalty- Section 924(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the following:
`(B) knowingly violates subsection (a)(4), (f), (k), (q), or (aa) of section 922;'.
While this bill is onerous, it would be less onerous if it included exemptions for private firearm sellers and buyers who possess a state issued conceal pistol license (sometimes called a concealed carry permit, and other similar terms, in various U.S. states,), from being subject to additional background checks. That this bill does not include such a provision seems like evidence that the bill is more focused creating a federal record of private firearms transactions and the particulars of firearms as they change ownership, including their make, model, and serial number as required in ATF form 4473, than it is about making certain that all firearm buyers are eligible to own a firearm pursuant to state and federal law. An additional tacit implication of this bill is that it would require operators of gun shows to setup systems for FFL dealers at gun shows to handle all firearm transactions made during the show.
This bill and others like it aren’t going to prevent prohibited people, such as felons, from illegally trading in firearms on the black market, as they do already. Just as the federal government’s war on drugs has only incited the existence of a hug, violent drug black market in America, no statute like Senator Schumer’s, at either the state or federal level, is going to prevent or deter felons and other prohibited people from maintaining a black market, illegal gun trade. All this bill will do is place unnecessary burdens and expenses on law abiding gun owners trying to do the right thing, under threat of federal prosecution for failure to follow such onerous procedures precisely, while felons and prohibited people will ignore it entirely. The gun ban zealot faction purports to be interested in preventing or deterring mass shooting massacres, but neither this bill, nor any other gun restriction and/or ban bill they propose will do any such thing.
(complete text of bill S. 374. RS)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/922
(ATF form 4473 - retail gun purchase)
http://www.atf.gov/forms/download/atf-f-4473-1.pdf
