Hop over the jump to see a suggested grand bargain that expands gun control laws and gun rights.
Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a DKos group of second amendment supporters who have progressive and liberal values. We don't think that being a liberal means one has to be anti-gun. Some of us are extreme in our second amendment views (no licensing, no restrictions on small arms) and some of us are more moderate (licensing, restrictions on small arms.) Moderate or extreme or somewhere in between, we hold one common belief: more gun control equals lost elections. We don't want a repeat of 1994. We are an inclusive group: if you see the Second Amendment as safeguarding our right to keep and bear arms individually, then come join us in our conversation. If you are against the right to keep and bear arms, come join our conversation. We look forward to seeing you, as long as you engage in a civil discussion.
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First, I want to point out who is actually writing this article.
Richard Feldman is the president of the Independent Firearm Owners Assn. Inc. and author of the book "Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist." Arkadi Gerney is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and former gun policy advisor to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Next, let's take a look at some of the suggested expansions.
Gun control expansion: universal background check.
Meanwhile, on background checks, polls consistently show that more than three-quarters of Americans, including clear majorities of gun owners, support expanding background checks. But some gun owners worry about regulating transfers among family members, friends, co-workers and other people they know well.
So, let's address all these concerns and come up with a system that requires checks for all gun sales but exempts transfers among family members, temporary transfers and a small set of other transactions.
I'd like to see a more concrete proposal but I've already pointed out I wouldn't oppose it. I don't think they'll work even close to as well as some are predicting but if the expansion piece I'm going to talk about next goes through, I'd have no problem allowing for some form of background check (as long as registration is not required).
Gun rights expansion: national reciprocity for concealed carry permit holders.
...let's devise a uniform set of intelligent standards, including training and clean criminal records, for a national concealed-carry system.
I've suggested this before. It would be an additional carry permit available to those interested in carrying in all 50 states and DC. If you look at Arizona, you have the ability to conceal carry without a permit. If you want to go traveling, there's a way to get an Arizona carry permit and X amount of states recognize it. This third level would be similar. If you'd like to carry nationally, take a course that's been nationally approved.
And what was the vote when these items (or items close to) were in Congress?
Last April, in the wake of Newtown, 55 senators voted to support expanded gun background checks — and that same day, 57 senators voted for a provision to allow permit holders from one state to carry concealed guns into any other state. Both measures failed because they did not meet the 60-vote threshold.
There are other items in the article so I suggest clicking through and reading it in its entirety. These are the two major ones I'd like to talk about though.