How the hell is a background check going to stop someone from committing suicide?The man's death — coming three weeks after an Altamonte Springs woman killed herson and then herself at the same gun range — prompted Shoot Straight to stop renting guns to most customers.
A lawyer for the business said there needs to be a state law allowing gun dealers to run the same background check on people who rent firearms as is required for those who buy them.
The rest of the article isn't that bad, but they do try to sell the reader on background checks for gun rentals. "See! It only costs $5!!" Again, no mention that background checks are to make sure that a felon is not buying a gun, not to make sure that the buyer won't shoot themselves with it. There's no way to test for that.
Even if you stop renting out firearms, people will still find other ways. There is talk about putting up a barrier on a bridge close to where I live to stop people from jumping off of it to their death. The author thinks it's a great idea because she cites one bridge in another state where they put up a barrier and not only did people not jump off of it anymore, but they didn't go to another near by bridge. No mention of how many people shot themselves or swallowed a bottle of pills instead.
3 comments:
It will never cease to amaze me that people think they can prevent suicide by reducing access to the means.
There are an innumerable number of ways I could end my life. Not to mention that if people want to kill themselves then let them. If they have a right to life don't they have an ancillary right to end that life on their own terms?
While you are both correct that 1) background checks WILL NOT prevent suicides, and 2) people will find a way to commit crime with or w/o a check, you have to think of it from the viewpoint of the business.
What you have to realize is that no one is REALLY trying to prevent a suicide, they're just trying to cover their arse. (well, maybe someone is trying to prevent a suicide, but good luck with that)
Lets not forget that this same range is being sued by the father/husband of the victims from earlier this month. If they require checks, it would provide them another level of defense from this kind of litigation.
No one says it's right, but in this day and age, it does make sense (enough).
JD, I'm pickin up what you're puttin down. That is why I blame lawyers for virtually all of our problems. It's a shame that our society has become so sue happy, and our laws and tax code has become so complicated that our nation's most educated experts can't even read them correctly.
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