RE: “” [, Nov. 30]:
Michael Balamuth, not only do I think you are wrong, but history also proves you are wrong.
First a disclaimer: I am the president of the Gun Owners of Vermont. As such, I am kind of an expert on firearms legislation. I am not a member of the National Rifle Association.
You advocate “[u]niversal background checks for all gun transfers, including gun shows, private sales, and even gifts from one person to another.”
Sorry, but if I want to give a firearm to my adult kid who I have known all their life, or if I am up at the range and want to let an old friend or neighbor try my firearm or even hand them my firearm so I can cross a fence post. Why should I have to pay an federal firearms license dealer to transfer them?
You write that “the NRA claims that to implement [universal background checks, a national database, a gun registry, interdepartmental sharing of information, required recording of all gun transfers, physician reporting] would give the government unlimited power to identify and directly confiscate guns wholesale. It might just do that, except that I go back to my original tenet — which is that I really and truly believe that the American people are smarter and more resilient than that and would not simply roll over if confronted with a genuinely unfair attempt to take away their/our Second Amendment rights.”
I will show you what has happened in this country — the things you say will not happen.
New York City is confiscating bolt action rifles with fixed tubular magazines because they hold more than 7 bullets. Connecticut is trying to do this for the people who have not complied with their mandatory registration, which is what the universal background checks are all about.
Page 3 of the 4473 ATF form requires you to list the make, model, serial number, and caliber of the firearm you purchase. If a certain state or the federal government decides to ban any type of firearm, all it has to do is go through those forms.
By the way, I would like to see your NRA benefactor card.
Eddie Cutler
Westminster