Despite terrible crimes like the slaughter of children at a school in Connecticut, nothing gets done about keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.
At the very least, an iron-clad law addressing criminal background checks could have been passed, but because of enormous lobbying efforts by gun-manufacturing interests it was not.
Currently, some members of the U.S. Congress are considering passing a law that would make gun trafficking a federal crime. It’s about time. The trafficking of guns puts guns into the hands of tens of thousands of criminals every year. Americans are killed with guns at a rate 20 times higher than in other developed countries, according to the Care2 website. At least 85 percent of guns involved in crimes committed in New York City were brought there from outside of the state, illegally because of gun-trafficking.
Due to the lack of a federal law governing gun-trafficking, prosecutors have had to rely on a weak trafficking law similar to the ones agains trafficking of livestock or chickens. Because of that, according to Care2, prosecutors refuse to prosecute three in four gun-trafficking cases.
Legislation now before the U.S. Senate would make gun-trafficking a federal crime and much easier to prosecute.
Gun lobbyists, like the National Rifle Association, have long claimed there is no need for any new gun-restriction laws because, in their opinion, if current gun laws were enforced as they should be, we could stop criminals in their tracks when it comes to keeping guns out of their hands. That is what they claim, but the truth is guns are still easily obtained, often without background checks, especially in a gun-trafficking network where guns can be purchased or bartered as easily as candy in a candy store.
Gun advocates do have a point, however. If criminals are determined to harm people, they will find a way, legal or not, to obtain guns, knives, bombs or any other destructive devices. However, why in the world should we make it easier for them to obtain their guns? Some, with proper laws, would be stopped in their tracks and prosecuted, as they should be.
A federal gun-trafficking law is long overdue, as are mandatory criminal background checks. Urge your senators to vote for the proposed anti-trafficking bill.
To sign a petition, go to the Care2 website. That site is hoping to get 15,000 signatures on the petition by June 5. So far there are more than 12,000 people who have signed it. Wouldn’t it be nice if 12 million people or 120 million people sign it? One fine day – it’s inevitable – this nation will finally have reasonable laws to make it harder for the bad guys to obtain weapons. Let’s start now by passing the federal law against gun-trafficking.
