Bloomberg, Moms Demand Action: Background Checks Don't Work, Pass More Background Checks

On December 23, Michael Bloomberg and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense America’s (MDA) Shannon Watts co-authored an op-ed claiming criminals circumvent our current background check system; ergo, the United States needs more background checks. 

Throughout the op-ed, Bloomberg and Watts malign private gun sales as the means criminals use to get their guns. In order to make private gun sales seem illicit, they intimate they are a new practice that came about as a way to dodge background checks. 

According to Politico Magazine, they do this by citing the success of  background checks passed in 1993 before describing private gun sales as something criminals have turned to in order to beat the system. 

The authors never mention one important fact–private gun sales have existed in this country since 1787. They are not a recent criminal-sponsored invention but an American way of life. They are part of the exercise of the 2nd Amendment. 

Another thing Bloomberg and Watts don’t mention is that some of the most high-profile criminals in recent memory got their guns legally through the background check system. This includes Tuscon shooter Jarod Loughner, the Aurora theater shooter, the D.C. Navy Yard shooter, the LAX shooter, and the Arapahoe High School shooter. Together, these and many others all stand as a testament to the fact that more government involvement in firearms sales does not stop criminals from acting on their wicked intentions. 

It is also worth noting that Bloomberg and Watts cited a poll showing strong support for more gun control. But the poll they cited was from July 2012. 

A more recent poll from December 2013 not only shows that opposition to more gun control is growing but that a majority of Americans no longer support gun control, period. 

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.