What is Your Position on Expanding Background Checks for Firearms?

I'm a giant 2nd amendment lover- basic background check- nothing crazy though

I could not agree more.

I'm a Texan. It is safe to say I am pro-gun. I, however, find it irresponsible to think that it is ok to let someone with a criminal background or a diagnosed brain disorder/injury or mental condition own a gun. NRA is over stepping its bounds when it objects to background checks. There is room for compromise here. Its just a matter of how many innocent lives are lost before the NRA gives in. I suppose it will have to be the child of NRA leadership before they say, ok, lets have some background checks. I for one would gladly give up some gun rights if it means anyone one with a muslim sounding name has to wait a while for a gun. In fact, I volunteer to be one of the people who does the background checks.

Absolutely. It seems most responses focus more on the "not having guns" argument elsewhere, when that's not what the question is about. I am also a firm believer of having guns in a household. I am also a very firm believer in everyone that purchases a gun having extensive background checks, as well as training on handling and deploying the weapon, at a bare minimum. Every person who has the opportunity to answer this question on this site has went through months of extensive training on the proper handling and respect for firearms, and how to react in a situation involving them, not to mention the basis of a psychological evaluation and numerous background checks for security clearances we all had to endure. Is it too much to ask for a version of this for anyone entrusted with a firearm?

It's a bullshit feel good measure. Mentally ill people who have never been to treatment will still come up clean and be able to make a purchase. Mentally ill people who have been to treatment will come up clean and still be able to make a purchase because the two databases are not linked and linking them would probably violate HIPAA. Background checks don't apply to criminals who don't care about gun laws anyway because they have other avenues to use to make their purchase.

Not only Expand it but Follow up!

SSG(P) (Join to see) They can make the background checks as tough as they want. If someone wants to own a firearm, then they will. Nothing will stop them for wanting to own one....not even the law.

I disagree with any and all control measures. The second Amendment states "A well regulated militia being necessary for the establishment of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." Now let's break it down and understand the meaning and intent of the Amendment a put forth by the founding fathers. 1) They understood that you can't have a free state unless you have a militia, and you can't have a militia if you disarm the people. 2) What was meant by well regulated is that there was an established hierarchy (chain of command) and an adherence to rules of war, otherwise it would be an unruly rabble and not a militia. 3) Note the placing of the comma; grammar is important, the comma denotes a separate clause and train of thought. The grammar shows that it is the right of the people, not the militia to be armed. 4) The Reserves and National Guard are not the militia. They are an arm of the uniformed services. The militia is every man and woman who is physically and mentally capable to conduct war operations. 5) The term arms includes ALL weapons; otherwise, they would have said muskets, not arms. The founding fathers knew that there would be more advances in weapons and intended for the people to be armed just as well as the government with the intention of keeping the government from becoming tyrannical just like the British Government that they just fought a war of independence with. 6) The dictionary definition of the word infringed is to encroach or trespass on. I am a strict constitutionalist. I still take my enlistment oath to protect and defend the Constitution against ALL enemies, foreign, or domestic. Now that the Amendment's meaning and intent has been addressed, anyone can see that background checks, registrations, permits, licenses, restrictions, bans, and all other means or attempts at gun control are strictly unconstitutional and therefore null and void. Got a concealed carry permit? Yes you do, it is called the Second Amendment! Are you allowed to own, buy, or sell an M2 .50 cal machine gun without a dealer's class III license or authorization from the ATF? According to the Amendment you do! Do I think it is a good idea to walk down the streets with a machine gun or RPG? NO, but that is not the point. Whether or not it is a good idea, it is still our right as the people to do so!

It's a slippery slope. There are already background checks in place, so where do you expand them to?!

Some other food for thought that might border on conspiracy theory... Let's pretend for a moment that the 2nd Amendment is repealed. It IS a possibility, just like the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was repealed. You've just turned millions of gun owners into criminals, and you have ways of identifying exactly who they are and where they live. Selective enforcement of the law provides a convenient way of eliminating political rivals, and anyone who backs up their "When you pry it from my cold dead hands" ethic with action would by definition be a terrorist.

Sound outlandish? Google Randy Weaver... he sawed off shotgun barrels to short, because a federal agent offered to buy them that short.

On the flip side, I sat on a jury where a Felon was caught with a pistol sewn into the liner of his jacket. He was acquitted because he wasn't wearing the jacket and there was another person in the car (who wasn't a felon) when he was caught.

So, how effective could expanding the background checks be? In the case of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting Adam Lanza (the perpetrator) was not legal to purchase firearms, but his mother Nancy was a "gun enthusiast" and he used the guns legally purchased by her.

https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics

Expanding Background checks may put a few more clerks to work but it will not keep Guns out of the hands of criminals. SrA Art Siatkowski, pointed out how easy it is to bye a gun. Keep in mind that the people who can not pass a background check to purchase a gun may be criminals or mentally ill and will not be restrained because it is illegal to obtain a weapon. If they can't buy them they will steal them.