From: Morris Klapper
Indianapolis
Can we, the overwhelming majority of the citizens of this state who are mentally healthy and rational, agree that the following statements are true?
— There live among us persons who, because of severely reduced mental capacity, live with gravely impaired judgment. Others have a history of mental illness with a known tendency toward lethal violence, or who are convicted felons whose crimes involved the use and/or possession of firearms, or others who have committed repeated and recent physical spousal abuse.
— Individuals who fit any of these descriptions must not be trusted to own, possess or carry firearms capable of causing lethal injuries to others or to themselves.
— The state has the right and duty to take reasonable actions to effectively control and reduce, or to totally prevent the possibility of such individuals acquiring firearms.
— A constitutional right to possess weapons is not unlimited (eg. machine guns; grenade launchers). There is no absolute permission given to our fellow citizens which allows any person to possess any kind of firearm, at any time, for any reason, without regard to their past history of violence or their ability to safely possess a weapon.
— It would be virtually impossible to learn which persons attempting to acquire lethal firearms meet any of the categories itemized above without some method of trustworthy and competent background inquiry.
— The seller of a firearm cannot tell by mere observation at the time of sale whether the buyer fits one of the above descriptions. This information must be provided by law enforcement professionals or other custodians of such records.
— The ability to circumvent background inquiries by sellers and buyers of firearms, whether in public or private sales, leaves wide avenues open for the described persons to acquire lethal weapons, with no questions asked, and with the result that firearms predictably land in the hands of individuals who endanger us and themselves.
If you agree with these propositions, then it follows that complete and certifiable background checks for all individuals attempting to acquire firearms is an indispensable safety measure, which could at least reduce the number of firearms sales to those who cannot safely own, possess or carry them.
As things currently stand, the current bypasses around background checks are so extensive, that firearms are much too often found in the immediate control of those who are unable or unwilling to safely possess them.
If the men and women we trust to make our state and federal laws fail to provide a system of near airtight background inquiry before completion of a firearm sale, our destiny is quite clear: mass shooting following mass shooting, the slaughter of the innocent, with no foreseeable end to it. The carnage will continue; we will somehow become accustomed to it; that has already started. This brings no honor to our lawmakers, nor to us.
