They just couldn’t resist

In an otherwise decent article about how more states are submitting their mental health records to NICS, the guys at CNN just couldn’t resist the temptation to throw the Brady Campaign press release line in at the very end.

Background checks, however, aren’t necessary for firearms purchases made at gun shows or from a private seller, which, according to estimates, account for about half of the guns sold in the United States each year.

Yes.  They.  Are.  I don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but a Federal Firearms Dealer is required by Federal Law to conduct a background whenever he transfers ownership of a gun, whether he’s at a gun show, or in his store.  If he doesn’t, he has committed a felony.

Also, most “private sales” of firearms are a lot less under-the-table than CNN would have you believe.  The average private sale involves me selling a Ruger GP100 to a good friend who I know isn’t a criminal.  It’s perfectly legal.

The actual topic of the article is interested – the general thrust is that in the wake of VA Tech, more states are actually getting in line with NICS and submitting their mental health records.  What’s interesting to note is that California has submitted over 200,000 “mental health records”.  That statistic only becomes interesting when one remembers that it’s the policy of many LE organizations in California to perform an “involuntary mental evaluation” of anyone arrested for a gun related crime.  You think that is a coincidence?