Twelve of Maine’s 16 county sheriffs have essentially told anti-gunners backing a so-called “universal background check” to pound sand, explaining that it “will do nothing to stop evil people from getting their hands on guns.”
What Have Universal Background Checks Done For Gun Safety?
The gun-control actions are backed by anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety and its clones.
In an open letter published on his Facebook page Hancock County Sheriff Scott Kane notes:
“In fact all relevant data indicates that criminals acquire firearms through theft and the black market. It will not stop the reoccurring pattern.”
Meanwhile, as noted by Guns.com, all but one county sheriff in Nevada is opposed to the measure which is also supported by Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety.
“It puts the sheriffs at odds with municipal police chiefs in Maine, and a prominent police organization in Nevada.” South Portland Police Chief Ed Googins told reporters that it is “a common-sense proposal that will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.”
The measure is patterned after Initiative 594, passed two years ago in Washington State. The groups backing that initiative spent more than $10 million to pass it. It opened the door to similar legislation adopted last year in Oregon, and another ballot measure in Nevada.
“Universal background checks” require every firearms transfer – not just sales, but also loans of firearms – to be put on paper. Essentially, critics assert, this is backdoor gun registration.
But does it accomplish anything? As the Maine sheriffs explain it will not?
In Washington, two years after their initiative passed, there does not appear to have been a single arrest or prosecution for violating the law, and it appears nobody is enforcing it. When it comes to violent crime, there also does not appear to have been any crime prevention.
Indeed, Washington’s fatal shooting at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, a community about 65 miles north of Seattle, was committed with a gun that was taken without the owner’s permission by his stepson.
