Republicans and gun rights advocates are furious that President Obama has put into place executive action that makes it just a little harder for the wrong people to get guns. These rules do the following:

– All people that make a living from selling guns must perform background checks
– States must provide information on people that are not qualified to purchase guns based on mental illness or domestic abuse
– The FBI will add 50% more background check examiners
– Obama is asking Congress for $500M to improve access to mental health care
– The departments of defense, justice, and homeland security are being ask to investigate smart gun technology to improve gun safety

The typical pro-gun arguments are flying:

– People get murdered with things other than guns
– What about all the shootings in Chicago?
– Why are responsible gun owners being punished?
– This won’t stop all gun murders
– Criminals don’t follow laws

Yes. It is true that people get murdered with things other than guns. But guns make murder much easier. There have been very few mass murders in the US or anywhere by means other than guns. Because it is easier to flee from or stop someone that is using a knife, bat, fire, fists, or anything else.

It is true that Chicago has a horrific number of gun deaths. And investigations of recovered crime guns reveals that 60% of the guns come from other states. And there are some estimates that as much as 40% of the crime guns come from Indiana gun shows.

These laws do not take away “responsible” citizen’s rights to purchase guns. If you can pass a background check, you can still purchase and own guns and ammunition.

We have laws against drunk driving yet people still drive drunk and we still have drunken driving deaths. However the laws have been very effective in greatly reducing drunk driving accidents, injuries, and deaths. Since 1980, drunk driving deaths have been cut in half. Can anyone make a reasonable argument that changing the drunk driving laws was a bad thing?

Most states increased the behind the wheel and driver education requirements for young drivers. We still have young driver deaths. But these laws resulted in an almost 50% reduction in young driver deaths from 2003 to 2014. Can anyone make a reasonable argument that changing the young driver licensing requirements was a bad thing?

Gun owners can still buy any gun they could have a year ago as long as they pass a background check. Gun dealers can still sell any guns they could a year ago, as long as they run a background check and the buyer passes the background check.

This doesn’t change responsible citizen’s ability to purchase guns.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35229294