I find myself fascinated by the "
Pretest Gun Game Questionnaire”.
It has such … interesting phrasing.
A few examples:
4. Gun makers should be held legally responsible for selling guns to illegal gun dealers.
What’s an “illegal gun dealer”? Current Federal law requires dealers to have Federal Firearms Licenses. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is charged with determining that the holders of those licenses continue to be eligible to hold such a license. No manufacturer should be charged with a crime for selling to a dealer with a current, BATFE-approved license. A manufacturer who sells to a non-government buyer who does not have a FFL probably has committed a crime, and should be investigated. Once the manufacturer has sold to a licensed dealer or distributor or wholesaler, further transactions are attributable to those farther down in the supply chain, consistent with reason and Federal law (The
Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, Public Law 109-92, October 26, 2005).
Is the reader supposed to believe that manufacturers sell to criminals on a regular basis?
5. The Federal government should require serial numbers on all firearms.
It does, and has done so since 1968 (The Gun Control Act of 1968, Public Law 90-618). Generally a harmless requirement, which applies only to guns manufactured or imported since the law went into effect; manufacturers have been doing some version of serial numbering for many guns for at least a century.
Is the reader supposed to suspect that such numbers are not yet required?
6. When a person purchases a gun, he should be photographed.
What ever for? We already require proof of identity and engage in background checks. How would point/time of purchase photographs contribute anything useful?
7. There should be a national licensing of all handgun owners.
The question here has already been noted in many posts. In fact, under certain circumstances, that would be only slightly objectionable. Those circumstances include
- licenses are available at every driver license examination facility
- the license must cost no more than a driver license
- each such facility has a target range open to the public for practice, as well as license testing
- the license so issued would not be required to buy a firearm
- the license so issued would allow concealed carry of a firearm anywhere in that state of issue and anywhere in the United States.
Overall I would prefer ‘Vermont Carry’ and the punishment of criminals, but that is not a realistic national goal in the current political climate.
Which leads to
10. Citizens who carry concealed weapons do not commit crimes with those weapons.
All citizens? Or law-abiding citizens, carrying legally under the laws of their jurisdictions? It makes a difference, since it should be clear that many criminals carry illegally and use guns in their crimes.
Legally carrying citizens have been shown to have a lower rate of all crimes, including gun crimes, than other citizens not licensed to carry – the data is easily available from the states of Florida, Texas and Michigan.
The failure to make that distinction in this question seems biased to me.
Related to question 5 is this one:
19. The Federal Government should ban the mail-order sale of firearms.
With the same 1968 law which required serial numbers (and purchase through Federal Firearms Licensees) the Feds in fact banned mail order firearms sales.
Wouldn’t it be more straightforward to rephrase this as “The Federal Government banned mail-order sales of firearms in 1968; do you think this is a good idea?”
This entire section of incomplete information, and bumper-sticker phrasing (“
17. I would like a ‘pocket rocket’.” Sheesh!) seems to me to set a tone which does not inspire confidence in this work.
Anyone who actually knows the current laws will likely have an anti-gun control 'result' from this 'Questionnaire' - does the book supply such commentary, as I have written, for all of the 'Questionnaire' items?