<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nightcrawler:
Instead of background checks that are a defacto registration system, I have a better idea that would prevent felons from using legitimate gun shops to buy their weapons. When someone is convicted of a violent crime, a mark saying as much should be put on their state ID card (if they have one) or drivers license. You always have to show ID to buy a gun, so if they have the "violent offender" stamp on their card, they can't buy one. Now, this may seem unfair to people who are "trying to start over", but I find it difficult to worry myself over the feelings of murderers, rapists, and so on. I mean, these people shouldn't be out of jail in the first place, but so many are, because hey, we need to make room for the pot heads and the prostitutes.
Anyway, I'd rather have this system than having my records checked (and thusly informing Uncle Fed that I'm purchasing a firearm) every time I buy a new rifle. Again, it isn't a perfect idea, and I'm just musing, so if you disagree with me, don't tear into me or anything. 
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And what happens when the criminals, assuming they even bother with legal sales, simply obtain false ID without the "felon" identifier? The cry will go up for a system that makes it impossible to cheat.
And the ONLY WAY to do that is to have a) a central registry of felons somewhere, so that my identity can be checked against it AND b) biometric identifiers which cannot be changed (that means FINGERPRINTS, RETINAL SCANS and/or DNA samples) to make sure I am who I say I am.
And that's where we're headed NOW.
The only answer is NO BACKGROUND CHECKS.
OF ANYONE.
EVER.
If the police are worried about criminals with guns, they can go check up on the CRIMINALS. That's what the whole concept of parole and probation is _supposed_ to be about. Which means, if we're soooo worried about recidivism, either felons who have served their whole term get ALL their rights restored, or they spend the rest of their lives on probation, so we can monitor them forever--and if they violate the terms they go back to jail. If they're found in possess ion of a gun, they go to jail. If they're using false ID, they go to jail.
But the rest of us, who are NOT criminals, are left alone, free to buy, sell, own, and carry weapons without restriction.
Personally, I'd rather restore their rights completely (but throw the book at anyone who commits a violent crime)--but it's one or the other. The half-assed approach we use now doesn't work, but it makes a great excuse for creating an inescapable police-state ID system.
If you buy into _any_ system for doing background checks, they've got you. No system is perfect, and perfection is what they're demanding. So even after they've forced everyone to carry unforgeable ID with fingerprints, retina prints and DNA encoded on it, when the crooks simply steal, buy illegally or "roll their own", they'll move to outlawing weapons entirely.
