[Doc Intrepid]

One fatal flaw of Universal Background Checks is that there isn't anything "universal" about them.

Like all gun laws, UBCs only apply to those inclined to obey laws.

A gang member from MS-13, or the Crips or Bloods, who wants to transfer a handgun to another gang member is unlikely to first go get a background check.

The fatal flaw doesn't involve those buyers who will comply, regardless of whether they comply at a gun show or at a dealer's showroom. The flaw concerns those who will not comply.

The problem is simply that noncompliance would be extremely difficult to prosecute due to lack of evidence. If Smith wants to sell Jones a handgun, and they agree to transact this sale without a UBC, first, no one knows the sale ever took place. Second, no formal evidence exists that the sale ever occurred - that Smith once owned the pistol, nor that Jones now owns it.

If pressed, Smith can claim he never owned the handgun, and -assuming Smith didn't fill out a Form 4473 when he acquired the gun - there isn't any evidence that Smith ever owned it or even possessed it to begin with. Nothing ties the firearm to Smith as a seller.

Ergo UBC laws are often currently unenforceable.

What most people who answer survey's don't understand is that only if Universal Gun Reistration is implemented can UBC laws be enforced. Under UGR, which links all firearms with a Smith or a Jones somewhere, now law enforcement can ask the question: "How did Smith's pistol wind up in Jone's possession?"

Once the government can mandate all firearms be tied to owners (a daunting task on its own), the matter of firearms sellers and buyers who fail to comply with UBC laws can be addressed. But UGR is a necessary condition for UBC.

IMHO this is why anti-gun activists are so frenzied on the matter of UBC laws. They intend to foist them on an uninformed public - which believes UBC sound 'reasonable', and then start begin bloviating about the "UBC Loopholes" which render them unenforceable so that one year later UGR bills can be passed.

Most everyone can agree that firearms probably should be kept out of the hands of convicted gang members and the mentally ill, etc. UBC laws no doubt appear to many citizens like a reasonable place to start.

It isn't until citizens understand that UBC laws are currently essentially unenforceable, and thus meaningless without universal gun registration, that many begin to see where this is leading and why UBC laws are a step in the wrong direction.

JMHO. YMMV.