I did not need to read this.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) told Fox News on Monday that the ability for strangers to sell guns to strangers without a background check is a “loophole” that needs to be addressed.
“I think one of the things, Jon, we have to do in this country is, take a strong look at this ability for people to buy a weapon when they’ve been turned down by a background check. … I believe, as a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, we should protect that family transfer or family sale. But any stranger-to-stranger, however — we don’t know how this person got their gun, but we do know that that’s a real loophole in the law. Because I’m a gun owner, I’m never going to sell my gun to someone I don’t know that — do they have a criminal record, are they a danger to other people, are they ready to commit evil? There’s no need for that.”
Fuck you, Patrick. If I want to sell a gun, I’ll fucking well sell it. If a guy has been turned down for a prior gun purchase and he then tries to get a gun anyway, then he’s at fault, not I.
And what if he was turned down because a vengeful ex slapped a restraining order on him, just for spite? Am I supposed to know that, too?
What you and your fuckbuddies in the gun confiscation business call a “loophole”, I call a personal freedom — the freedom to sell my personal property whenever I choose to do so. If the buyer turns around and commits a crime afterwards, that’s not my fault — just as it’s not the (FFL) gun dealer’s fault when a “legal” gun buyer turns round and murders someone. In both cases, the actual perpetrator caused the problem, not the seller.
As someone who wants to sell a gun, I have a right to ask the prospective buyer if he has a carry permit, and the right to refuse to sell him my gun if he doesn’t have one. That’s the right you want to turn into an obligation? Bite me. If you want me to perform a “background check” on someone, go ahead and deputize me. Otherwise, stay the hell out of my business.
Wait, here’s a thought: why don’t you and your politician buddies pass legislation that automatically grants every concealed-carry permit-holder a FFL? Then we’d have to perform background checks each time we sold a gun (except to other CHL holders, of course). Go on, I dare you.
And stop listening to the screams and wails to “do something”. That “something” that they want you to do is going to piss off a lot of people who might otherwise have voted for you. Like me.