PA Bill Number: HB2311
Title: Establishing the School Mental Health Screening Grant and Development Program.
Description: Establishing the School Mental Health Screening Grant and Development Program. ...
Last Action: Laid on the table
Last Action Date: Sep 23, 2024
Missouri sheriffs and gun dealers have dim view of President Obama's gun regulations :: 01/11/2016
MOUNT VERNON, Mo. — Missouri was front and center last week when President Barack Obama announced the steps he is taking to close loopholes in gun laws.
The president cited Missouri as an example of a state that is doing things wrong, noting that the repeal of a gun law in 2007 has led to more gun deaths in the state.
He also cited a number of mass shootings in recent years, including one involving a white supremacist from Southwest Missouri.
Some observers say the president was right to note that Missouri's gun homicide rate has risen since the law was repealed, but the NRA argues he is misusing the data.
Others don't believe any actions Obama announced Tuesday would have made a difference in the shootings, particularly the one on April 13, 2014, in Overland Park, Kansas, involving Frazier Glenn Miller.
Miller, a white supremacist from Aurora, killed William Corporon, 69, a doctor who once worked in Pittsburg; Corporon's grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, 14; and Terri LaManno, 53, outside the Jewish Community Center and a nearby retirement center.
“Second Amendment rights are important, but there are other rights that we care about as well,” Obama said. “And we have to be able to balance them, because our right to worship freely and safely — that right was denied to Christians in Charleston, South Carolina. And that was denied Jews in Kansas City, and that was denied Muslims in Chapel Hill and Sikhs in Oak Creek. They had rights, too.”
Because of a prior criminal record, Miller, now 75, who faces a death sentence for the murders, couldn't legally buy a gun, but managed to get one anyway.
That, say critics, is an example of the problem with Obama's executive actions: They wouldn't have stopped the killing in Overland Park or any other mass shooting.
10-point plan
In announcing his plan, Obama said: "The United States of America is not the only country in the world with violent or dangerous people. We are not inherently more prone to violence. But we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency."
He mentioned mass shootings in Fort Hood, Texas; Binghamton, New York; Aurora, Colorado; Newtown, Connecticut; Oak Creek, Wisconsin; Charleston, South Carolina; and San Bernardino, California.
His 10-point plan will narrow the loophole that exempts gun sales from background checks if the seller isn't a federally registered dealer. Now, those who sell just a few weapons at gun shows, flea markets or online can be deemed dealers and required to conduct checks on prospective buyers. The FBI also plans to hire 230 new examiners to process those background checks.
Millions of guns are sold annually in informal settings outside of gun shops, including many through private sales arranged online.
The Obama administration acknowledged it couldn't quantify how many gun sales would be newly subjected to background checks, nor how many currently unregistered gun sellers would have to obtain a license.
The National Rifle Association said Obama's plan was "ripe for abuse," but the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence called it a "positive step toward making our communities safer."
In Washington, U.S. Rep. Billy Long, R-Missouri, a frequent critic of Obama, also found fault with the regulations.
“After seven years, it's certainly not a surprise that President Obama continues to treat the Constitution and the legislative powers it grants Congress as mere suggestions that he doesn't need to follow,” Long said in a written statement. “As a former law professor he knows it's not his prerogative to change the law to bypass Congress and the will of the American people. This is just the latest example of the president infringing on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens."
U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, the former Jackson County prosecutor, called increasing safety research and making sure people who sell guns are licensed and doing background checks "small, commonsense steps that anyone who cares about preventing horrific gun violence should support."
"But, as the President admits, it's not enough to protect our families and communities," McCaskill said in a written statement. "My colleagues in Congress need to get off the sidelines and take action to expand background checks, and close loopholes that let dangerous criminals and terrorists legally buy firearms — steps overwhelmingly supported by a majority of Americans.”
Local sheriffs
In Missouri, Jasper County Sheriff Randee Kaiser also doubts that Obama's regulations will make much difference.
"What I don't like is that people's Second Amendment rights get trampled upon in the name of thwarting violence," said Kaiser who has taught conceal carry classes to hundreds of area residents.
Lawrence County Sheriff Brad DeLay said last week that laws wouldn't have stopped Miller, who got his gun from a third party.
Miller turned to acquaintance John Mark Reidle for the gun. Reidle, now 49, bought a 12-gauge shotgun at the Wal-Mart store in Republic, according to federal court records. He falsely said he wasn't buying the shotgun for another person, according to court records, and in October he pleaded guilty to making a false statement in acquisition of a firearm and faces up to 10 years in prison. He is to be sentenced Thursday in Springfield.
DeLay said, "All the background checks in the world aren't going to keep a bad guy from doing what a bad guy is going to do."
The executive director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, Chris W. Cox, also noted that nothing the president did would have made a difference in the instances he cited.
"The fact is that President Obama's proposals would not have prevented any of the horrific events he mentioned."
Missouri law
While Obama's critics dismissed his citing of the Miller case, others noted he was right on another issue: the question of whether Missouri is safer since 2007.
Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore, and other researchers looked at the impact of the repeal of a law in 2007 that required everyone who bought a handgun to get a permit at the county sheriff's office and undergo a background check. Since its repeal, background checks no longer have been required for gun sales, except for those by federally licensed dealers.
The study estimated that an increase of 55 to 63 gun homicides a year in Missouri were associated with the repeal of that law.
“Since Missouri repealed a law requiring comprehensive background checks and purchase permits, gun deaths have increased to an almost 50 percent higher (rate) than the national average,” Obama said. “One study found, unsurprisingly, that criminals in Missouri now have easier access to guns.”
Webster was also part of a study that looked at the impact of a 1995 Connecticut law that requires all prospective handgun purchasers to apply for a permit in person with the local police. That study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found the Connecticut law was associated with a 40 percent reduction in the state's firearm-related homicide rate.
“Licensing handgun purchasers is a particularly effective way to achieve comprehensive background checks and keep people from buying guns for people who are not legally allowed to own them,” Webster said.
The nationwide gun death rate in 2014 was 10.54 per 100,000 people, according to the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The center said Missouri ranked 12th among the states in firearm death rates in 2014 with 15.55 deaths per 100,000 people.
“Year after year, the evidence is clear that states with fewer guns and strong gun laws have far lower rates of gun death,” said Kristen Rand, the legislative director for the center. “States with strong gun violence prevention laws consistently have the lowest gun death rates in the nation. In states with weak gun laws and easy availability of guns, the rates of death by gunfire are far higher.”
However, Lars Dalseide, spokesperson for NRA, said the impact of repealing the 2007 law is still unknown.
"Any responsible social scientist will tell you that five years does not make a trend, you need to look at 20 to 30 years if you’re going to be able to draw any relevant conclusions and then compare that trend to all 50 states. If you add a few years on either end of that 5-year study the results will change significantly," he said via email.
'There's always someone'
Area gun dealers, meanwhile, also said last week that they didn't think Obama's regulations will be particularly effective.
"I don't agree with everything Obama is saying because you can go to his hometown of Chicago and see the problems there," said Carl West, the owner of Old West Gunslinger Gun & Pawn in Mount Vernon.
West agreed that the gun shows that Obama's regulations are meant to address are a problem. Sellers at those shows and at flea markets frequently don't register as licensed dealers.
"There's always someone trying to get rid of a gun without serial numbers," West said. "There's always someone trying to sell a gun dirt cheap. It's been that way for years."
But West said that tightening regulations at gun shows won't keep people from buying guns from friends or acquaintances.
In Aurora, Steve Allen has an inventory of 300 or more guns and 400 or more guitars at the aptly named Aurora Guns, Guitars & Pawn Shop. He's specialized in guns and guitars for 36 years.
Allen's opinion of the effectiveness of Obama's regulations?
"None," Allen said. "The outlaws and the bad people are going to continue to do what they've been doing."
