So, I'm not against improving background checks for firearms purchases. I still believe in our right to gun ownership, but I also believe in having strict background checks in place. These strict background checks don't prevent law-abiding citizens from getting guns. It is not a good idea to allow mentally insane or felons to purchase guns easily. And actually, I believe that there needs to be more training when it comes to firearms ownership.
I am not agreement with how state, county and local laws have defined gun laws. A law-abiding citizen in Vermont can purchase a firearm at a gun store, and after background checks are performed, he or she will be able to buy the gun for hunting, target shooting, self defense or even just collecting. When you cross the border into New York, there's an entirely stricter set of laws that apply. And if you go to New York City, there are even stricter laws. When it comes to the constitution and amendments, your rights don't change as you go from state to state. You have the right to not self-incriminate, pleading the fifth, whether you are in Chicago, Washington DC, New York City, Vermont or California. But your right to bear arms changes as you move from state to state or even within a state. My belief is that there should be a national firearms licensing program put into place that maintains a national database. So you can carry in all 50 states, in any city, and the District of Columbia. You can buy in all 50 states. And what this does is it prevents gun show loopholes. What criminals are doing is going to a state with more lenient gun laws and getting an accomplice to make a straw purchase and then transporting that gun back to a state where the gun laws are stricter. When you put a national firearms licensing program in place, you are tracking firearms purchases, and are able to prevent straw purchases if you put a firearms licensing program in place where there is mandatory training. A straw buyer's purchasing habits will be more easily detectable. It provides a central database to allow mental health professional to report patients who have shown they are dealing with a mental illness where gun ownership would be dangerous to other or themselves. Then, you put into place, federal laws for illegal gun ownership. This is much stricter than state or local laws on gun ownership.
