Backed by the National Rifle Association, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican leader is introducing legislation that would reward states for sending more information about residents with serious mental problems to the federal background check system for firearms purchasers.
The bill promoted Wednesday by Sen. John Cornyn, who has an A-plus rating from the NRA for his gun rights record, is far more modest than a Senate measure expanding background check requirements that the organization and Republicans helped defeat two years ago. Cornyn’s proposal also is narrower than a measure a top Senate Democrat announced this week.
Recent shootings have drawn attention to weaknesses in the background check system. The gunman in last month’s killings in a Louisiana movie theater had mental problems that went unreported to the federal database.
“Gaps in existing law or inadequate resources prevent our communities from taking proactive steps to prevent them from becoming violent,” Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a written statement.
Jennifer Baker, spokeswoman for NRA legislative affairs, said the bill took “meaningful steps toward fixing the system and making our communities safer.”
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/cornyn-nra-gun-background/2015/08/05/id/665507/
Way cool Jen! Everyone wants safer communities. And maybe you have a really good “in” with someone like, oh an Eric Holder, or say a Loretta Lynch? No? Then you are flying as blind as John Heinz-Kerry. While he doesn’t know everything that is in the Iranian nukes side deals that have been made, the NRA, doesn’t know WHO gets to decide WHAT are mental problems and HOW severe they are do they?
The SAF that thinks Universal Background Checks are a peachy idea, and WHAT could possibly be bad about that? The NRA now thinks a federal government that has IRS employees targeting conservatives, the DOJ selling guns to Drug lords, inciting violence and persecuting law enforcement officers, a NSA that has been exposed as spying on ordinary citizens and foreign countries, ICE and Border Patrol that are told to practice catch and release, the EPA wanting to go after farmers for “farm dust” will be responsible enough with the NICS check not to abuse a power to prevent citizens from owning guns which the current regime, well, hates. All that lovely obamacare data, just lingering in a electronic database. The federal government would never abuse that, right? I mean look how well the plethora of other governmental agencies have behaved under the current regime.
So, what are reasons to be denied your Second Amendment rights now, without the NRA’s helpful bill?
Well, if you are a Veteran and need help managing your finances, that will do it.
http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/feds-sued-for-snatching-veterans-gun-rights/
http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/senators-aim-to-protect-vets-gun-rights/
http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/vets-told-they-can-buy-back-2nd-amendment-rights/
What kinds of things can cause you to be accused of mental illness? Depends on what country you live in, but some of these, wow.
http://listverse.com/2015/07/24/10-crazy-cases-of-people-wrongfully-committed-to-insane-asylums/
The NRA will send out those helpful little orange cards, and people will believe them. In my state they have caused harm and prevented some wonderful candidates from being elected. And yet, people think they are a good source of information. Wow. Just, wow.
States are going to be bribed and paid off to send more info on their citizens to the Federal government? What a great bill! Awesome! What could possibly go wrong?
You left out the lack of belt-and-suspender options.
When you are put on the “A-List” for denial of your second amendment rights … what are your options to protest and/or sue for re-establishment of your rights?
None.
There are NO mechanisms in place to contest this unilateral, arbitrary decision-making process.
I’ve been wrong! NRA hasn’t just become a bunch of compromising a$$es, they are fully neocon turncoat Brady-bunch anti-gunners.
The new NRA-supported proposal expands the list of “prohibited persons” and provides “incentives” for states to hand over mental health records?
How … nice … of them.
[rant]
How’s about this for a “proposal”: instead of expanding the list of “prohibited persons” (again), we instead provide “incentives” for the FBI to investigate “delays” which current law already tasks them with doing, and provide “disincentives” for them to ignore those “delays”. IOW, if they don’t investigate and another mass-killing occurs, de-fund their asses.
Face it: the last couple mass-killers — the ones who sparked the “need” for this bill — should have failed their NICS checks … but the FBI couldn’t be arsed to look into it. I’ve said it elsewhere, but here it is again: This is not a failure of the system OR the list of “prohibited persons”; it is a failure of the FBI, and expanding the list or the circumstances that require a check will not fix it.
Screw this bill.
[/rant]
And yet….the NRA will send out the orange cards, people will get them, think they are voting pro-2AM and then get these politicians and this type of legislation. Worse, some Second Amendment groups will not publicly oppose the NRA when this sort of thing happens. That serves no one except the NRA, but certainly not gun owners.
I’m a Patron level member of the NRA (I support their youth programs, safety programs, etc). I have notified them a few months ago that until they officially remove Grover Norquist from their board (he’s being investigated by them now) not another penny from me.
But it looks like now I have another reason not to give any more $$ to their political arm.
The NRA does have good programs like the Eddie Eagle educational outreach to kids, you can support the Friends of the NRA for that but if you don’t like what they are doing on their political side you shouldn’t give a dime there and make sure they know why when they come to you for more bucks.