Also from my friend's Facebook
Last night at a CNN town hall meeting, Dana Loesch (Spokeswoman for the NRA) said this to Emma Gonzales,
"This individual was nuts. And I, nor the millions of people that I represent as a part of this organization that I’m here speaking for, none of us support people who are crazy, who are a danger to themselves, who are a danger to others getting their hands on a firearm. And we have been, for over 20 years—and I have been—screaming about this, which is why I’m here"......"This madman passed a background check. How was he able to pass a background check? He was able to pass a background check because we have a system that’s flawed. Did you know that the federal government doesn't even require states to submit criminal and mental health records to NICS?"
I seethed with rage while watching this, waiting for someone to call her out on this statement, but unfortunately, no one did.
It's true that the system is flawed; the background check is entirely dependent upon states voluntarily submitting criminal and mental health records. Some states don't require their counties and municipalities to submit data, and so, information is often altogether missing, or it is only getting updated once or twice a year.
It's terrible. In fact, many of the mass shootings that we've had in this nation have occurred precisely because of this issue.
Dana Loesch got that part right.
Here's what she left out... in 1993, congress passed the Brady Bill, which mandated a federal background check for the purchase of a firearm, and created the NICS system that we use today. It required states to submit criminal/mental health records to the system in a timely manner.
In 1997, a Montana sheriff named Peter Jay Printz sued the federal government, claiming that the mandate was a violation of the tenth amendment. In other words, forcing states to submit the data of their citizens was a violation of states rights. He was backed by the NRA, and won this case in the Supreme Court of The United States.
So, since 1997, our federal background checks have been full of holes and built on an underfunded system that our States aren't even required to take part in.
Not only did the NRA back this case, but you'll never guess what Jay Printz does now- he's a board member of the NRA.
The NRA isn't trying to fix the system... the system is broken BECAUSE of the NRA.
The loopholes and gaping flaws aren't there because of an irresponsible congress or federal government that just isn't doing anything. All of those problems exist because the NRA saw to it that congress and the federal government COULDN'T do anything.
Either Dana Loesch doesn't know the history of her own organization (which I find difficult to believe given her position and prevalence within the organization), or she sat on national television and lied straight into the faces of people who just buried their friends and children because of a loophole that her organization fought and payed for.