Gun Control Bill's Senate Outlook Uncertain

Gun Control Bill's Senate Outlook Uncertain

public.cq.com

The measure, which the House passed by voice vote Wednesday, appears to have detractors in the Senate. A hard-line gun rights group, Gun Owners of America, criticized the House for pushing through the bill (HR 2640) before grass-roots opposition could mobilize. Mental health advocacy groups also have expressed concerns.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I feel this law should be passed without any obstructions based on VTech incident.

Not knowing the full details of the Bill, the general outline seems to be exactly what is needed to help prevent future horrific acts, such as Virginia Tech.

I find it hard to believe there are people trying to prevent this Bill becoming law.

I was surprised to see the NRA even supports it ... to some degree.

public.cq.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Hi

I just read about this and the news source did not indicate that there were too many obstacles.

www.abc.net.au...

From the article I read, it certainly looked as though the legislation has got the green light.

This legislation refines the process and allows people to keep their guns.
The United States is tightening background checks for people trying to buy guns, in the wake of the Virgina Tech massacre, which left 33 people, including the gunman, dead.

The US House of Representatives has passed legislation to improve how States report mental health and criminal records to the database which provides background checks for would-be gun buyers.

The National Rifle Association has backed the legislation and it is also expected to get the approval of the US Senate.

The Attorney-General and Health and Education Secretaries have reported back that confusion about state and federal privacy laws have impeded information-sharing about possibly dangerous people

I do feel though the Govt and NRA need to be seen to do something after the Virginia Tech massacre. This legislation refines the process and allows people to keep their guns (no wonder the NRA are happy). I feel it is the only logical step to take.

I guess we will just have to 'wait and see' what actually happens.

cheers



[edit on 16-6-2007 by NJE777]

Here's the truth about H.R. 2640, The “NICS Improvement Act”

The basic goal of the bill is to make NICS as instant, fair, and accurate as possible. While no piece of legislation will stop a madman bent on committing horrific crimes, those who have been found mentally incompetent by a court should be included in the NICS as they are already prohibited under federal law from owning firearms.

www.nraila.org...

Please take the time to read the entire article to understand the bill.

Oh God, more gun laws. I'm terrified, to be perfectly honest, though this isn't as harsh as some laws have been in the past. My fear is, who decides who's "mentally ill" enough to lose their Second Amendment right to bear arms? Any government involvement in the process is so open to manipulation that something perfectly harmless can endanger all of us.

Originally posted by Johnmike
My fear is, who decides who's "mentally ill" enough to lose their Second Amendment right to bear arms?

If you read the link I provided, your question will be clearly answered.

Thanks for posting that Grady. I first heard of the bill through the NRA mailing list.

The Bill is not tighting gun control, it's only allowing the NICS to have access to available records on people who already cannot purchase firemarms. I'm all for the bill, it's making it harder for those with mental illnesses and criminal records to purchase firemarms.

This bill is keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them.....it's not making any more restrictions on law abiding gun owners, that's when I have a problem with gun control advocates.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
If you read the link I provided, your question will be clearly answered.

I was really making a vague statement about general gun control, which I guess was a little too far off topic, admittedly. This particular bill doesn't seem harmful.

I do not post external threads enough to know how to do it, and so may get yelled at for incorrect formatting. If so, I apologize in advance. Here is a link to the Gun Owners of America position letter that they are asking members to send to the reps.

GOA Position Letter

Once again, being a gun owner of resolve and determination, I can see where they are coming from. As is often the case with gun control laws, we have another attempt at short-sighted, blanket, "we are the government and will take care of you cradle to grave ..." fixing, which is no real solution, in the long run.

Blech...

Seems like the Federal Government ought to get it's fingers out of my wallet, my history files and my life. Take care of things the Federal Government should be taking care of and leave individual rights to individuals and the states.

But having fought for those rights (Yeah ... I am an unashamed old Veteran, as well) What the Hell do I know about such things.

Regarding the VTech (Could you possibly mean Virginia Tech, but are either to lazy to type it out or can't spell it? Or perhaps want to simply dehumanize it to the status of an incidental label?) situation. I have to agree, for once, with Geraldo Rivera, who said that "If someone in one of those rooms had had a gun then 30 people wouldn't have needed to die".