Following President Obama’s push for tougher gun regulations, the National Rifle Association (NRA) claimed that it supported the spirit of one of his proposals: expanding background checks for gun buyers.
The press widely reported this NRA stance:
- CBS: NRA President: Group supporting of tighter background checks (1/17/2013)
- Associated Press: NRA chief says group accepts background checks (1/17/2013)
- The Hill: NRA chief “generally supportive” of strong background checks (1/17/2013)
But shockingly, at the very same time the NRA was claiming to support tougher background checks, it helped oppose and kill several Virginia bills introduced to enact such a policy. Here’s an excerpt from an email the NRA sent to its members in Virginia over the weekend, bragging about killing the background check bills last week:
- Senate Bill 1136,Ai??Senate Bill 1232Ai??andAi??Senate Bill 1281Ai??would require a background check on all private firearm transfers, including between family members.Ai??Ai??The NRA opposes SB 1136, SB 1232 and SB 1281, and all three Senate bills were defeated.
- Senate Bill 911Ai??andAi??Senate Bill 1001Ai??would require a background check on all private firearm transfers at a gun show.Ai?? Under current law, only licensed dealers must obtain such a check.Ai?? SB 911 was rolled into SB 1001.Ai??Ai??Consideration on SB 1001, opposed by the NRA, was passed over for the day and may be heard on Monday, January 21 at 8:00 a.m.
The NRA appears to be saying one thing and doing another.
Sign our petition supporting Obamaai??i??s plan.
I personally believe that only states should have the right to restrict firearms. I grew up around guns I even had one as a teen and I didn’t go nuts and mass murder people. These kinds of bills do nothing but punish law abiding citizens with red tape. Please don’t be upset by my opinion but I Honestly and sincerely ask you to picture yourself going out of your house each day to be given a sobriety test at the end of your street by a policeman to help keep drunk driving deaths down. Would you not feel that the government was wasting time and effort by screening the law abiding citizens everyday for the 10,000+(usa) DWI fatalities per year