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A retailer's reasonable gun sale restriction
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Something that will make your blood boil,Josey
A retailer's reasonable gun sale restriction
The fact that Wal-Mart executives didn't hold press conferences and splash the news that it would voluntarily toughen its criteria for gun sales is a testament to how explosive gun rights still are far from the heat of the Columbine High School shootings or other high-profile firearms debates.
The fact that the National Rifle Association, the leading advocate of unfettered Second Amendment rights, walked carefully toward its response to Wal-Mart's decision tips to the fact that the company made the reasonable choice.
An internal company memo, released in May and reported last week by the Los Angeles Times, tells Wal-Mart store managers to hold off on firearm sales whenever local authorities can't come up with conclusive background checks. Federal law gives police three business days to complete a criminal background check on a gun buyer. If authorities aren't able to finish the background check within those three days, a store is allowed to complete the transaction and hand the firearm across the counter.
In a recent campaign, Americans for Gun Safety, a group that lobbies for gun control measures, asked gun sellers to consider self-imposed restrictions that went beyond the three days in unclear cases. The organization hailed the compliance by Wal-Mart, recognized as the nation's top seller of firearms whose action could prompt other retailers to follow suit.
The retail giant is bound to take flak from strict Second Amendment proponents. But the voluntary policy, if universally adopted by gun sellers, wouldn't be expected to delay the ready purchase of a firearm except in roughly 5 percent of the cases. According to studies -- including one by Americans for Gun Safety study, generated, admittedly, by a group with gun control measures in mind -- those 5 percent of the background checks ending fruitless after three days result in a disproportionately high number of cases of guns getting into hands of someone who legally shouldn't qualify.
The stores' tougher policy shouldn't deny anyone a gun who has a right to purchase one. It probably won't keep guns out of the hands of a convicted felon or anyone else with the will to get one. But the safeguard does send the right message of a retailer's responsibility.
http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20020708/200207080local_opinion1026105380.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
A retailer's reasonable gun sale restriction
The fact that Wal-Mart executives didn't hold press conferences and splash the news that it would voluntarily toughen its criteria for gun sales is a testament to how explosive gun rights still are far from the heat of the Columbine High School shootings or other high-profile firearms debates.
The fact that the National Rifle Association, the leading advocate of unfettered Second Amendment rights, walked carefully toward its response to Wal-Mart's decision tips to the fact that the company made the reasonable choice.
An internal company memo, released in May and reported last week by the Los Angeles Times, tells Wal-Mart store managers to hold off on firearm sales whenever local authorities can't come up with conclusive background checks. Federal law gives police three business days to complete a criminal background check on a gun buyer. If authorities aren't able to finish the background check within those three days, a store is allowed to complete the transaction and hand the firearm across the counter.
In a recent campaign, Americans for Gun Safety, a group that lobbies for gun control measures, asked gun sellers to consider self-imposed restrictions that went beyond the three days in unclear cases. The organization hailed the compliance by Wal-Mart, recognized as the nation's top seller of firearms whose action could prompt other retailers to follow suit.
The retail giant is bound to take flak from strict Second Amendment proponents. But the voluntary policy, if universally adopted by gun sellers, wouldn't be expected to delay the ready purchase of a firearm except in roughly 5 percent of the cases. According to studies -- including one by Americans for Gun Safety study, generated, admittedly, by a group with gun control measures in mind -- those 5 percent of the background checks ending fruitless after three days result in a disproportionately high number of cases of guns getting into hands of someone who legally shouldn't qualify.
The stores' tougher policy shouldn't deny anyone a gun who has a right to purchase one. It probably won't keep guns out of the hands of a convicted felon or anyone else with the will to get one. But the safeguard does send the right message of a retailer's responsibility.
http://www.lafayettejc.com/news20020708/200207080local_opinion1026105380.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
Recent tragedies reinforce the need to store firearms safely. New technology helps.
BY RON SPOMER
1 2 Next
Speed ReleaseThis is a clamshell-style lock for the new millennium. Even in the dark, the lighted keypad is easy to see and opens quickly. In tests, the 9-volt battery has lasted for 1500 cycles or 5 years.
Today, 44 million Americans keep 65 million handguns in their homes. Unlike sporting guns or collector's pieces, most handguns are purchased for personal protection. And perhaps for good reason. Research by criminologist Gary Kleck of Florida State University indicates that Americans use firearms to successfully defend themselves 2.5 million times each year, often without firing a shot.
But this self-reliance comes at a price. In 1995, 181 children died as a result of firearms accidents, and according to the National Safe Kids Campaign, another 1500 kids ages 14 or younger are treated in emergency rooms for accidental firearms injuries each year. These facts, combined with recent schoolyard shootings, make it clear that gun owners must do more to secure their firearms against theft and illicit use. Gun locks are one answer.
Gun BlokThis lock from CCL Security ($10, 860/229-6199), is a typical clamshell lock. The dial combination mechanism elimantes the need for a key, but it could raise issues about accessibility.
In 1997, federal legislators introduced a bill that would have made it mandatory for all new handguns to come with a lock. But before the bill ever came up for a vote, most American gun manufacturers volunteered to provide locks with their new products by the end of 1999. This was a definite step in the right direction, but it still leaves a lot of new and used guns without locks.
Of equal concern to gun owners is the effect locks have on their sense of security. Today's locks are mechanical devices that require keys, combinations, or levers and buttons-things that are hard to remember or to operate when you wake up bleary-eyed and adrenaline-filled in the middle of the night. There are ways around these shortcomings-unlock the gun before going to sleep, complete all but the last number of the combination, etc.-but for many, gun locks seem like imperfect compromises at best.
LOADED AND LOCKED
Previous 1 2
The most common locks are clamshells, so named because they have two metal or polymer pieces that clamp around the trigger guard like a shell and completely cover the trigger. A good one is the Master Gun Lock ($13, 414/444-2800). It's easy to use and allows several guns to be locked with the same key.
However, some people worry about the key falling into the wrong hands. For them, there are clamshell combination locks. These have no keys to fuss with, but they require a good memory under pressure and good eyesight in the dark.
The Speed Release Gun Lock ($35-$45, 800-939-2311) takes the combination clamshell into the digital age. It has a lighted touchpad that's easy to see in the dark and faster to operate than a dial. Six incorrect combinations in a row shut the unit down for 15 minutes. With a 9-volt battery, the Speed Release is good for 1500 cycles or five years, though the manufacturer recommends 800 cycles or one year just to be safe.
One of the few options that matches a clamshell in terms of price and simplicity is a barrel block, which secures a metal rod down the barrel. A key locks the rod into a dummy cartridge, preventing live rounds from being chambered. A gun so locked cannot fire even if dropped, and the obvious locking device deters theft. When the locking rod is removed and the dummy round ejected, a live round will load.
Trigger blocks are a third option. They can be either external or internal. The Saf-T-Blok ($20, 800-472-4405) from Concept Development is a good example of an external trigger block. It's a simple anodized aluminum block that fits between the rear of the trigger and the trigger guard. Pushing the block free with your index finger makes the gun usable in an instant. A 3-dial combination padlock ($7) can be mounted through the unit for permanent locking.
Internal trigger blocks arrest the firing mechanism inside the gun, usually with a blocking pin. These locks tend to be more complex and therefore more costly, and many of them require an owner to permanently alter his or her gun.
One type of internal trigger block, such as the grip-mounted Magloc ($90, 604/551-8492) from Smart Lock Technology, provides improved safety and fast access by using a magnetic ring. When the gun is grasped by someone wearing the ring, a switch moves inside the special grip cover (which replaces the original grip). This frees an integral grip lever at the rear of the gun. Normal hand pressure then unlocks the trigger bar for firing.
But even better solutions may be coming down the pike. Spurred by the industry's agreement, companies are developing promising, new "smart" systems. Oxford Micro Devices (203/924-9933) is developing a grip with a microchip that stores the thermal imprint of several different fingerprints.
If the user's print matches one stored in memory, the gun is functional in a heartbeat. Wrong fingerprint, the gun doesn't fire.
Such technologies will help make guns both child-safe and accessible, and the advances are coming at a good time. Congress is once again taking up the issue of gun safety, and it seems clear that the age of the mandatory gun lock is upon us. The problem is, the greatest lock in the world doesn't do any good if nobody uses it.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/firearms/1998/9/High_Tech_Gun_Locks/index2.phtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Local Merchants
To: State Desk
Contact: Richard Pearson of the Illinois State Rifle Association,
815-635-3198; Web site: http://www.isra.org
CHICAGO, July 8 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following statement
was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA):
The ISRA is expressing little surprise over the announced effort
by Walmart Corporation and a gun control group known as Americans
for Gun Safety (AGS) to establish indefinite waiting periods on
firearm purchases.
Dubbed, "Don't know...don't sell" by the AGS, the policy
recently adopted by Walmart would prohibit the delivery of firearms
to anyone whose FBI background check had not been completed within
the 3-day allotment established by federal law.
The ISRA opposes the AGS/Walmart, "Don't know...don't sell"
policy as it irresponsibly undercuts legislative authority to
govern background checks and establish waiting periods. The
AGS/Walmart action opens the door to the establishment of an
arbitrary hodgepodge of waiting period policies that would
unnecessarily infringe on the law-abiding citizen's right to keep
and bear arms.
The ISRA is calling upon Congress to investigate any perceived
deficiencies in the current background check system and to provide
remedies that would not unduly burden the law-abiding firearm
owner.
Announcement of the AGS/Walmart indefinite waiting period policy
comes just one year after the launching of the ISRA's "Support Your
Local Dealer" program. That program called upon the state's 1.5
million law-abiding gun owners to resist the predatory business
practices of the mass merchandisers in favor of patronizing their
local independent gun shops.
"We're not surprised to see Walmart knuckle under to pressure
from the AGS," commented ISRA president Richard Pearson. "Like
other mass merchandisers, Walmart only sells firearms because it's
legal to do so. Their faceless corporate culture places no
significance on the fact that firearm dealers play a key role in
facilitating the free exercise of a constitutionally guaranteed
right. Basically, firearm and ammunition sales are a way for
Walmart to make a fast buck - nothing more, nothing less."
"For its part, the AGS will take every opportunity to make it
difficult for law abiding citizens to purchase firearms," continued
Pearson. "Any claim that this "Don't know...don't sell" scheme
serves the public interest is just so much red herring. The goals
of this AGS scheme are to intimidate independent gun dealers and to
fuel a new round of nuisance law-suits against gun makers and
dealers."
"Again, I encourage all Illinois firearm owners to by their guns
and ammo at one of their independent local shops - and not at a big
chain store," said Pearson. "And as far as their other shopping
goes, Illinois gun owners should think twice about patronizing
Walmart under any circumstances now that the company is joined at
the hip to an extremist gun control group like the AGS."
The ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful and
responsible firearms ownership. For nearly a century, the ISRA has
represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois
firearm owners.
http://www.usnewswire.com
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
07/08 13:06
Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/first/0708-114.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878