Opinion
New York – -(AmmoLand.com)- Among the many anti-Second Amendment bills being considered in New York is S.2374/A.2690. Behind that combination of two letters and eight numbers is a very insidious way of infringing your right to keep and bear arms. Essentially, it can impose a waiting period of up to 30 days. These bills, if they pass the state legislature, will likely be signed by Andrew Cuomo.
If you want a prime example of a gun control law that has been overtaken by technology, the waiting period is it.
These days, it shouldn’t be hard to run a background check and have the answer in minutes. The National Instant Check System should be instant, but it isn’t – and that should be fixed. So, what is the big deal?
Look, let’s get this out of the way. NICS is not even close to an ideal situation, but it is better than some of the alternatives anti-Second Amendment extremists have pushed. Remember, in 1968, Lyndon Johnson wanted the United States to enact a licensing and registration scheme and blasted the “gun lobby” (read: NRA) for the non-inclusion of said licensing and registration in the Gun Control Act of 1968.
So, what is the purpose of a waiting period when cops can run a license check on you and find out if you have a record and outstanding warrants in a matter of minutes at most during a traffic stop? It’s not really about making sure a firearm doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, far from it.
If they were serious about that, they’d be all for flagging Immigration and Customs Enforcement if a check determines that an illegal immigrant is trying to buy a gun. They’d be enforcing existing laws that have massive penalties for prohibited persons in possession or for straw purchasers. They’d be making sure that felony convictions were included in the NICS database. They’d be holding law enforcement agencies accountable for their failures prior to the shootings.
The fact that they don’t do that means that they are not serious about preventing shootings like those in Parkland, Sutherland Springs, and Aurora, Illinois. The waiting period isn’t there for public safety; it’s to make it harder for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights. It’s about turning the whole process into a form of punishment.
If one believes what Sarah Brady long ago said in a speech, it’s about achieving a “needs-based licensing” scheme. Or, as House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler admitted, it’s about replicating what was done in Australia. In 1996, Australia passed not just a sweeping ban on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns, but they also made self-defense an invalid reason to own a firearm.
Waiting periods, especially lengthy ones like that in New York, are just one way to get law-abiding citizens to either give up the notion of exercising their Second Amendment rights.
At the very least, those who do exercise them are to be inconvenienced. So, what do we do about that?
Second Amendment supporters must keep in mind is who the real audience is. It isn’t a committed pro-Second Amendment supporter since they are already on our side. It’s not a committed anti-Second Amendment extremist from Moms Demand Action, either. No, the real target is that person who isn’t sure, and who wants more information on the issue, and who wants something done to prevent mass shootings.
The waiting period scam is one that Second Amendment supporters can expose very easily. If Second Amendment supporters can show how proposals from anti-Second Amendment extremists – like waiting periods – are not going to solve the problem and in some ways will endanger some people (like Carole Bowne, killed by an abusive ex-boyfriend while waiting for New Jersey to issue her pistol permit), they have a chance to win converts. That chance will depend not only on knowing the facts but also in being mindful of how they come across to fellow citizens.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
This site is so red-necked that you would think it’s mars
Well here in the state of New Jermany Jersey, you must first get a background check from local, state police, and SBI. Get your finger prints and wait. I waited 6 months for my Firearm ID Card, and a permission slip. The Slip is a permit to purchase. Now you have 90 days to use that slip. Keep in mind if you have 2 slips you can ONLY PURCHASE ONE FIREARM A MONTH HERE. Now Go to buy a Pistol you go through NIC’s. Every time you want to buy a pistol, you get a background check before you get… Read more »
Post Me damn it!
Remember when Niel Gorsuch was being confirmed, and was being asked about the Second Amendment – and his answer was “IT’S THE LAW OF THE LAND, MA’AM”
NO – IT’S NOT JUSTICE GORSUCH! IT’S BEEN REPEALED IN MORE THAN A FEW STATES ALREADY!
It would be nice if you and your fellow justices will take the time to restore our constitutional rights by reigning in a rogue political party by STRIKING DOWN UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAWS THAT REPEAL OUR UNINFRINGED RIGHT TO ARMS.
Non-Compliance and Jury Nullification will send all null and void laws to the landfill. And when they send foreign troops to your house to confiscate your guns, give them to them one bullet at a time, right between the eyes. That goes for traitors, too. After the word gets out that they might get themselves hurt, they might get the gist of the memo.
As an AUSTRALIAN shooter and member of a couple of shooter organisations I wish to raise a couple points about the references to Australian laws. In Australia PRIOR to the introduction of the National Firearm Agreement some states already had registration and licensing. Some had no licenses for rifles & shotguns. All states already had licensing and registration for handguns so they were NOT included in the 1996 laws. Self-defence has NEVER been a legal reason for handgun registration and ownership. The states which had already implemented licensing never allowed self-defence as a legal reason for rifles or shotguns, but… Read more »
During the Obama administration the BATF was ordered to stop reporting the “Time to Crime” for the guns that they “traced”. The average was over 5 years and many cases were over 10 years. Was the reason they were ordered not to report that information because it made a lie out of the claim that “waiting periods” would reduce or prevent violent crimes?
Illinois is another state infested with anti 2A liberals trying to push there unconstitutional laws through.
I am an FFL holder in the democrat state of Colorado. Colorado has a back ground check system that works very well. It run through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and NICS they run a state back ground as well as a Fed comes back to you in a few minutes either approve or denied. Denial means you are a felon. Simple. What I don’t agree on is there feel good laws is: 10 round mags,universal back ground checks,and gun show back ground checks they are not enforceable laws and that is according to law enforcement officers I have talked… Read more »
I agree if it easy for police to run a check in min, why cant this be done when apply for a firearm in new york. I have 2 rifle that I’m very pleased with and I went through the process like everyone else, later I wanted to go through the process of buying a gun….I didn’t go through it. After filing out all the paper work and tally up all the cost plus purchase for a firearm I quickly was discouraged. I have no record nor do i ever want one and the NYC laws are good within reason… Read more »