Weeks after the U.S. Senate defeated a proposed expansion of background checks on gun purchases, the annual conference of the National Rifle Association in Houston has a celebratory atmosphere. I was so proud of the American public, and the NRA, for putting enough pressure on our politicians, Neil Solt of Cypress, Texas, said yesterday while waiting to have his World War II heirloom guns appraised at a pre-convention event. Yet as the festivities begin, gun-control advocates are swarming town halls, organizing petitions and buying local ads to pressure senators from Alaska to New Hampshire to reconsider the measure that failed by six votes on April 17. They also are descending on Houston to protest outside the NRA event. In Washington yesterday, the efforts inspired by the Dec. 14 slaughter of 20 children at an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut appeared to be gaining some ground. Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana, who voted against the measure and then announced he will retire, said in a statement that he would evaluate any new gun-control attempts. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who wrote the defeated background-check measure with Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, told reporters April 23 that he is trying to craft such a compromise. A new batch of polls, including some released yesterday, show that senators who favored expanding background checks are enjoying a bump in popularity. The approval rating for Toomey has climbed to 48 percent in a poll conducted April 19-24 by Quinnipiac University (78104MF) up from 43 percent in March. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-...un-control-defeat-senators-face-backlash.html
I came up with a compromise solution to solve the gun buyers background check impasse called the PK Proposal. It calls for gun industry self regulation ONLY if increased enforcement of current background checks prove inadequate. In that case the gun industry or the NRA itself would conduct the background checks and if someone was found to be ineligible their name would be forwarded to law enforcement. The government would not be able to access the raw data about gun buyers unless by an act of Congress. My PK Proposal would satisfy the liberal reactionaries' and the Obama administration's desire to keep crazies and felons from legally buying guns. It would satisfy the legal gun owners desire to prevent the govt. from coming one step closer to infringing our 2nd Amendment right and also assure every citizen that only a responsible organization which takes the 2nd and our privacy rights seriously will have access to our private info and will not divulge it to the government unless by an act of Congress. I'm waiting for your feedback.
