Buying guns: paperwork, background checks, etc.

Forums: Guns, Background Checks
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First off, two thing:

I'm not looking to buy a gun so I don't want gun recommendations or reasons I should have a gun.

I would prefer that this not become a "nobody should be able to buy guns" discussion either.

Okay, on to my question:

What kind of paperwork does someone fill out when purchasing a gun? What kind of questions are asked? What shows up on a background check?

Recently there was a shooting here in Portland. A young man shot 9 people, killing three - including himself. His only previous brush with the law had been a speeding ticket.

But as investigators look into this man's life they have found several troubling things, including a previous suicide attempt, that he was "a student of concern" at his high school, and that he had been hospitalized and medicated for mental health issues.

I realize that privacy is a necessity for medical records but I'm still troubled that this young man was approved to buy a gun and I don't see how it might have been prevented.

I know that gun sellers aren't psychic. The man who sold the gun is seriously distressed about having sold the gun to the young man. He acted completely within the law, even refusing to sell him a gun at one point because the proper forms of ID weren't presented.

Another question:

If you were the parent of an adult child who you felt was a danger to himself or others would you try to have them arrested for something that might prevent them from ever legally buying a gun?

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What? All the people who talk about guns and nobody can answer this:

Quote:

What kind of paperwork does someone fill out when purchasing a gun? What kind of questions are asked? What shows up on a background check?

To answer my own question:

When Mo is a grown up, if I thought he was a danger to himself or anyone else I would do everything in my power to make sure he couldn't get a gun.

I know there are other ways to kill oneself or someone else but a gun really makes it awful damn easy to act on any nutty impulse.

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@boomerang,

odd that nobody has come forward, i unfortunately can't help you

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@boomerang,

There are some federal regulations, but purchasing details vary from state to state. You would need someone who was familiar with laws in the area of the incident and sale.

I would ask the guy who owned the gun and sport shop in my town, but he was shot during a robbery last year and his family closed the store. You have to go to Walmart or Gander Mountain Sports if you want to buy a legal gun in my area.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

What? All the people who talk about guns and nobody can answer this:

Quote:
What kind of paperwork does someone fill out when purchasing a gun? What kind of questions are asked? What shows up on a background check?

To answer my own question:

When Mo is a grown up, if I thought he was a danger to himself or anyone else I would do everything in my power to make sure he couldn't get a gun.

I know there are other ways to kill oneself or someone else but a gun really makes it awful damn easy to act on any nutty impulse.

At any age, any person has a natural right to defend himself
from the violence of man or beast.

The purpose of possessing a gun is to be able to control the situation
if a predatory emergency arises.

If a victim of predatory violence CANNOT control that situation,
then his fate lies in the hands of the predator.

IF someone who has your good will were to fall into a predatory situation,
is it better if HE controls how that situation is ended
or
is it better if the PREDATOR controls how that situation is ended ?

If I ever decided to end my Earthly life,
I 'd probably use the old Roman method:
lie down in a warm bath and open an artery;
maybe have a few drinks first.

`

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Ummmm.....David, that didn't answer any of my rather simple questions but.... errrr.... okie dokey.

2 Replies

@boomerang,

Boomer, I think you are going to have to google "Portland, Oregon gun laws". It seems even different cities have different rules. Portland is considered very liberal (dare I use that word) and it's easy to get a gun - no waiting period. The laws in CA are very strict compared to Oregon, but again, that can change from county to county and city to city. You might even have to call your local sheriff to find out the most up to date rules and regulations.

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

Quote:
When Mo is a grown up,
if I thought he was a danger to himself or anyone else
I would do everything in my power
to make sure he couldn't get a gun.

RESPECTFULLY, that 's like saying that when he grows up
u will do everything in your power to turn water into gold.

If u succeeded in disgracing him in the eyes of the police,
there is a chance that maybe u coud stop him from LEGALLY
getting a gun, but anyone who is not paralyzed below the neck
can get guns on the blackmarket, or make them himself,
if he wants to apply the time and attention.

It has been very common experience
that criminals have re-armed themselves by recourse
to the blackmarket on the same day that thay are released
from several years in prison. We have found out about that
because later in the day he goes back to work and robs
a liquor store or a bodega, and sometimes thay get caught.

The same way that it has been impossible
to prevent any member of the public
with a taste for it, to get marijuana
or beer, so also it is impossible
to stop anyone from getting guns.

The REAL Supreme Law of the Land
is the law of supply and demand.

U r NOT helpless in this situation.
U can sit with him and entrain his mind with reason.
Explain fairness, morality (i.e., no robberies) and decency to him.
He will probably respect u.

As an OLD MAN, as I choose to do something,
sometimes I silently think back that this is what my mother
advised me to do 50 or 60 years ago.

David

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@boomerang,

I'm sure that the types of information that show up in a background check varies state by state, but I expect that they search law enforcement databases for felony convictions and that's probably about it.

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@Green Witch,

Green Witch wrote:

Boomer, I think you are going to have to google "Portland, Oregon gun laws".
It seems even different cities have different rules.
Portland is considered very liberal (dare I use that word) and
it's easy to get a gun - no waiting period. The laws in CA are very
strict compared to Oregon, but again, that can change from
county to county and city to city. You might even have to call
your local sheriff to find out the most up to date rules and regulations.

With all respect,
unless he is applying for a license tomorrow or in the near future,
this is not apt nor availing of useful information,
in that there is turbulence in the state of the law
and the law of the State.

Last summer, the USSC began to enforce the Second Amendment
in the HELLER case. There is very strong indication
that a few additional cases will be decided within the next few years
bearing upon self-defense issues, including immediate access
to defensive emergency equipment.

Boomer seems a little upset.
I am not exactly clear on whether she is calling anyone 's mental competence
into question or not.

However, bearing upon the fact that the law of self-defense
and of immediate access to emergency equipment is in a state of flux,
I can conceive of a future case wherein someone with odd ideas
will argue that he has as much right as anyone else
to defend himself if someone tries to rob him
or if a cougar pounces on him while jogging or fishing.
(Cougars have done that.)

This gives rise to consideration of every citizen 's
constitutional right to equal protection of the laws.

I doubt that u can beneficially evaluate
technicalities of the local law of legal procedure beyond the near future.

U can sit with him in private
and earnestly reason with him, tho.
I don t think the law of that will change.

David

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

David, so nice to see you again - sorry writing in haste, the lady here Boomerang is a friend of mine. Of course I understand no part of your background in the legal field may be disclosed to others - especially online - but I trust it's safe to post that you are, indeed, a legal expert and can look up the laws of Oregon, or whatever other US jurisdiction the lady here is worried about.

Boomerang - it's OK, what David doesn't know about the law he can look up, and there's very, very, little he doesn't know on gun laws, federal, state, or local. Btw, to the poster who said only a prior conviction can block someone from purchasing a gun - so can forcible (or, for all I know, voluntary) hospital stays in psychiatric establishments. Again, David would know for sure. Boomerang - you have my e-mail, if you want David to have yours post here, I'll send it on to him. Always good to see you Smile

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@boomerang,

As Green Witch has already pointed out, gun laws vary not only from state to state but often from city to city. In many largely rural states, for example, general state-wide gun laws might allow virtually anyone to buy any kind of a firearm (pistol, shotgun, rifle) and to carry it virtually anywhere, except . . . when the farmer goes to the big city, he discovers he needs a special permit to have his six-shooter strapped on. In states with lax gun laws there is reallly no serious attempt to check a person's background. No "paperwork." The buyer has to show a valid picture ID which is then run through a computer to ascertain that the would be gun-owner does not have a felony conviction. Such a conviction in any state would show up in the FBI's online data base. The problem is that treatment by a private psychiatrist, of course, would not show up on this data base. Some states which do not require any special permits have laws that allow sales only to residents of that state (N.H. for example). Others (Mass. for example) have extremely tough gun laws. You need to get a special firearms ID card to even buy a hunting rifle or shotgun and go through a thorough vetting by the police to get a permit to carry a handgun.

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Thanks High Seas for the offer to relay but this is all hypothetical. I have no doubt that David is an expert on gun laws.

Mo just turned 8 and I don't think he has the desire to hurt himself or anyone else.

But this shooting did/does really disturb me. Mr B. and I had taken Mo to the "rehersal" of his music school's concert at a club just a block away from where the shooting happened earlier that afternoon.

Most of the kids from the music school were at the evening preformance. The shooter parked his car just up the street from where the school was preforming, walked past them, down to the next block, and opened fire.

It was so random. It could have been kids from Mo's music school.

It just made me think.

If my kid had a history, as a minor, of trying to kill himself or being dangerous to others I would do whatever I could to keep a gun out of his hands when he became an adult.

I know that if someone is really intent that they can find a way to get a gun.

I'm not anti-gun. We have a gun.

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