Commentary: Gun-control forces offer a misleading narrative

IF YOU READ the recent opinion piece titled, "Close loopholes that allow long guns to get in wrong hands," you were treated to another episode of the false and misleading narrative so often spouted by the gun-control group CeaseFirePA and executive director Shira Goodman. It's long past time to look behind the curtain of the "Wizard of Oz" mentality behind background checks and expose the false promise of background checks.

In 2014, the Pennsylvania Instant Check System issued 13,178 denials to firearms purchasers. A whopping number of criminals, right? What Goodman hopes you do not look at is the real gauge of these numbers - there were only 4,154 investigations, 782 arrests, and only 367 of these so-called "criminals" were successfully prosecuted and convicted. Incredibly, only four were referred to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for prosecution. How can that be, you ask; isn't even the attempt by a prohibited person to purchase a firearm a crime? Yes it is, but Goodman ignores the "false positives" by a system that falsely denies the exercise of constitutional rights. Many of those initial denials are subsequently overturned, meaning citizens were denied the exercise of a constitutional right. So, one question you should consider is whether our current system worth the $120 million-plus we have, as Pennsylvanians and gun owners, paid since 1998? Should we expand it even more, or is it possible that there is a more underhanded reason behind this quest of anti-gun groups?

Let's examine the supposed problem referenced in the recent article - rifles and shotguns used in violent crime. In examining the FBI Uniform Crime Reports on weapons used in crime, it shows that in Pennsylvania for 2014, eight rifles and 14 shotguns were used in homicides, yet there also were 63 knives or other cutting instruments used. From 2013 to 2014, the use of rifles and shotguns in homicides (sold without mandatory background checks) went down by almost 50 percent

Should we not focus on knives more, since they are used more in homicide? This is what England did, after it banned virtually all guns and found that knives were being used in homicides; now, pointed knives are controlled heavily in England. Firearms, meanwhile, are still a problem in English crime, but it's only the criminals who have them now.

So what is the real push behind this? According to a 2013 memo from the Justice Department, this concept of mandatory background checks will require the registration of all gun owners! This is a major goal of gun-control groups since their inception. We have had background checks in Pennsylvania for all handguns since 1931, yet the vast majority of all violent firearms-related crime in Pennsylvania is with handguns bought originally through the current background check system, which has cost us hundreds of millions of dollars.

In March 2013, PoliceOne.com surveyed 15,000 law-enforcement professionals and found that the overall attitude of law enforcement is strongly against gun legislation and in favor of gun rights, and that respondents believe that an armed citizenry can help stop crime. In this survey only 10 percent of law-enforcement officers who responded agreed with CeaseFire PA in ending the private transfer of firearms. Additionally, more than 70 percent disagreed with tracking sales and registration of firearms ownership. Not a ringing endorsement for the concepts espoused by gun-control groups and Mayor Kenney.

Goodman made unsupported claims in her article regarding police officers as the justification for passing mandatory background checks. Citing deaths of police officers by so-called "long guns" was underhanded, at best, as many police officers killed in the line of duty would be alive today if the courts had not plea-bargained away prior gun charges from the killers.

Unfortunately, murder and violent crime is a metropolitan, big-city problem. Failures to prosecute criminals in possession of firearms for violation of current Pennsylvania firearms laws are all too common, and these criminals go on to commit other serious crimes. In examining Pennsylvania violent crime, if we take the six largest cities' crime stats out of the state violent crime totals, violent crime drops by almost 50 percent for the rest of the state, while these cities compose only 18 percent of the statewide population.

So, will CeaseFirePA's supported solution, closing loopholes, do anything to change or reduce violence with firearms or deter criminals? Not at all. Just examine California - mandatory firearm checks, but remember San Bernardino? Or Colorado - mandatory firearm checks. Just look at their and others' crime rates, and it will readily become evident that advocates for mandatory firearm checks are not recommending appropriate or effective public policy measures - but rather more expensive gun control at the expense of the truth.

In 2007 Philadelphia Chief of Detectives Joe Fox wrote, "We refuse to hold people accountable for their actions and constantly make excuses for their inexcusable behavior. The incessant cry for tougher gun laws is a good example. Until we're ready to strictly enforce the current laws there is no reason for tougher ones."

We agree!

Kim Stolfer is president of Firearms Owners Against Crime. Contact information is at foac-pac.org.