Hi, below is a letter I wrote that anyone else is free to use to send to our reps. Please oppose universal background checks!

The gun control debate is centering around universalizing background checks and ending private sales. In light of this, I urge you to carefully consider the following. First, the background check system, as it is now, is overly inclusive. Currently, ALL felons are barred from exercising their Second Amendment rights, not just the violent ones. This means that someone who has borrowed a sleeping pill from a relative, or someone who lied under oath, or grew a marijuana plant for a sick friend, are all barred from exercising their rights. Obviously, bank robbers should not have firearms, but non-violent offenders, such as Martha Stewart, are not a threat to society even with a firearm and therefore should not be systematically denied their rights.
Secondly, if we universalize the background check requirement, two things will alternatively happen. One, the law goes completely unenforced. If a law is likely to go completely unenforced, then it has no reason to be passed in the first place. For the law to be actively enforced, a gun registration system must be created. In order to know whether people are doing the background checks, we need to know where the guns are at all times. Historically we know that registration systems have led to confiscation. The UK, Australia and Canada, all used their registration systems to target gun owners and confiscate their firearms. Further, in both California and New York City, the government used the registration system to confiscate the weapons of law abiding citizens. If any national registration system is created, which is necessary in order to enforce a universal background check requirement, then it will only be a matter of time before confiscation is on the table. We cannot trust a future, unknown Congress, to do the right thing when it comes to our Second Amendment rights.
We can do a few things that will help to combat both criminals obtaining guns and straw purchasers buying guns for criminals, that will not harm the Second Amendment. First, lets make the penalty for being a straw purchaser very stiff. Twenty years mandatory in a federal prison will significantly impact the willingness of a straw purchaser to “lie for the other guy.” Currently, prosecutors are cutting deals with the straw-man in order to get the criminal he’s buying for, this needs to stop, and can, with mandatory sentencing. Second, lets democratize the access to the background check system. Everyone should be allowed to run their own checks from their smartphone when they are selling their firearm. Knowing that it is a crime to sell to a felon, and having easy, free, access to the background check system will encourage private sellers to use it all the time. This will significantly cut down on a felon’s ability to get a firearm, as virtually all private sellers will have no reason not to use a free, quick system on their smartphone or computer, to ensure that they are not violating the law by selling to a particular buyer.
In closing, please oppose any universal background check requirement. First, the system is already over inclusive and should be reformed. Second, to be enforced there must be universal registration, which has lead to confiscation in both California and New York City. Lastly, enabling access to the system by everyone, and increasing penalties for straw purchasers, will go a long way to combat criminals’ ability to obtain firearms, without infringing on the Second Amendment.