What Obama's Executive Action On Gun Control Means For You | Cracked.com

What Obama's Executive Action On Gun Control Means For You | Cracked.com

Bottom line: absolutely nothing. It will not affect you in any way. Assume you are a crazy person who has been recently released from a prison or mental institution, where you were sent for the felony of shooting a guy because you wanted to impress Jodie Foster. You now want to buy a gun from another individual who has one. There is nothing to stop you or even slow you down. Felons can get around any obstacle by buying guns from hobbyist sellers who do not require criminal background checks.

Here's a key point from the article:

"Will it stop me from buying a gun from someone who just has a load of guns and would like to sell one to a stranger for money?

No. That person is still a hobbyist. It's just that their hobby is giving lethal weapons to strangers without conducting a background check. This isn't affected by the executive action. Craigslist gun sellers of the nation rejoice!"

The problem in this case is that it is perfectly legal for the seller to make the sale without a background check, provided that no state lines are crossed. It is (probably) illegal for the buyer to make the purchase (it depends on whether the felon's rights have been formally restored), but if he chooses to do so, there is nothing to stop it. He could not make this purchase from a licensed dealer without a background check, but hobbyists do not have to make background checks.

(Note: there are about ten states that prohibit any seller from making a firearm transaction without a background check, but in the absence of state laws, hobbyists in the other states are free to sell guns to someone within their state, so our theoretical crazy guy has about 40 states to choose from. If you are a crazy felon in California, Oregon or Washington, for example, you are out of luck to buy locally without a background check, but a friendly hobbyist in Nevada, Arizona or Idaho will be able to accommodate you.)

President Obama's critics are right to criticize him, but they have the wrong reasons. They claim the problem is that he's trampling on the Constitution by doing something significant (that they don't like). In fact, the problem is that he made it seem that he was doing something significant when he was really just using smoke and mirrors, like David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear.

On the other hand, his actions don't seem to do any harm to anyone, so ...