St. Louis’ Newly Bill Requiring Reporting of Those Who Fail a Gun Background Check
I thought the recent non-scientific Sunday Poll would at least get the usual number of responses, but it got way less.
Q: Agree or disagree: St. Louis’ new background check bill (#106) is a waste of time & money.
Strongly agree: 2 [15.38%]
- Agree: 2 [15.38%]
- Somewhat agree: 1 [7.69%]
- Neither agree or disagree: 0 [0%]
- Somewhat disagree: 2 [15.38%]
- Disagree: 4 [30.77%]
- Strongly disagree: 1 [7.69%]
- Unsure/No Answer: 1 [7.69%]
The few gun retailers in the city will need to report to the St. Louis Police when an applicant has failed a firearm background check.
”A waste of time & money” was the most frequent criticism I read last week. Given how few gun stores exist in the city and only about 1% fail a gun background check, I don’t see this is a big issue.
”Criminals don’t buy guns” is another I heard. For this I turned to Politifact:
[U.S. Rep] Faso said “The vast majority of crime that is gun related is committed by people who illegally are possessing that firearm.”
People can differ on what constitutes a “vast majority.” What’s more, illegal gun crime is not well researched in the U.S. The latest data is more than a decade old. One analysis of the data showed Faso’s claim is not true in some states while true in others. But experts say most gun crime is likely committed by those who illegally possess guns.
His statement is accurate but needed additional information. We rate it Mostly True.
So this likely won’t reduce crime in St. Louis. However, since 1982, 74% Of mass shooters obtained their guns legally. So there’s potential the St. Louis Police may get the name of someone who failed a background check — if they could’ve bought a legal gun they might’ve committed a mass shooting.
The fact is we’re not going to ever know the effectiveness of this new bill. However, we do know that few who lie on their application are prosecuted — even though that’s a crime.
— Steve Patterson