According to Brian Kern, Indiana’s gun laws are too loose. Of course, since his definition of “loose” is based off the Brady Campaign’s scorecard, it’s no wonder.
Doug Pennington, assistant director of communications for the Brady Campaign, says that the report card demonstrates the need for further legislative action on the state level.
“If the state decided to require a criminal background check on all gun purchases or issue a restriction on bulk handgun sales, then that would certainly help,” Pennington said. “Some people think that it’s politically impossible to do this, but what if it were just done at gun shows? Doing those two things alone would elevate [Indiana] considerably. In fact, they’d jump into the top 10.”
Unlicensed dealers who sell from private gun collections are not currently required to conduct background checks, Pennington explained.
Y Helo Thar, straw man. Here’s a fun idea, why don’t we not jump into Brady’s Top 10 list? Hoosiers don’t really like people trying to restrict their liberties, as a general rule; Indiana has the 3rd highest number of concealed carry permits per capita in the country. But it is nice to see the Brady Campaign desperately clinging to their “Unlicensed Dealer” straw-man.
I find myself restating the facts over and over again; aside from the fact that there is no such thing as an unlicensed dealer (a contradiction in terms), Indiana doesn’t have a gun show loophole. Yes, private parties are allowed to sell firearms to other private parties without a background check; however to state that people are going to gun shows and buying great big whacks of guns without background checks indicates that you’ve never been to a gun show.
Brian Kern writes for the Hendrick’s Country Flyer, and from his article I’m not 100% sure where he comes down on the side of the gun issue. But since Avon is about 20 minutes from my home, I’m going to extend an open invitation to Brian Kern to come with me to the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife show held the weekend of May 30th. I’d invite him to the show in March, but I’ll be out of town that weekend.
Brian, if you’re interested in taking me up on my offer, you can reach me at admiralahab-at-gmail-dot-com.
“Bulk handgun sales” is also a a bit ridiculous. Purchasing more than one will result in the dealer sending a letter to the ATF.
There’s a poll up at http://www.flyergroup.com, the Flyer’s web site.
The story is also available at http://www.flyergroup.com/statenews/cnhinsall_story_033110348.html.
Another story he wrote there has his email as brian.kernflyergroup.com if you want to invite him personally.