WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Enforcing gun control laws to prevent high-risk individuals from committing acts of violence infringes on the rights of compliant citizens to use a firearm responsibly, Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt told Sputnik.
“What we found is that the effort to comprise criminals of a gun typically ends up making it difficult or impossible for the good guys to legally have a gun,” Pratt said.
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution protects the right of the people in the United States to keep and bear arms.
Under US federal law, a background check must be completed within three days of an attempted firearm purchase.
However, if the check is not completed within the three-day period, the transaction can proceed even if the buyer should be prohibited from obtaining the firearm.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation had revealed flaws in the national background checking system for purchasing weapons while investigating the case of Dylan Roof, who fatally shot nine people at a church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17.
Roof was addicted to controlled substances, but was legally able to purchase a gun.
Many firearm dealers complete a “default sale,” before the buyer’s 72-hour background check is completed, regardless of whether or not the purchaser is a criminal, they stated.
However, Pratt opposed the idea of gun control laws.
“If there’s one thing that desperately needs to be changed, it’s the elimination of gun free zones, unless they are going to do something the way they do at the airport, where they have electronic security,” Pratt added.
Pratt also noted that states which permit carrying concealed firearm have lower crime rates.
“In Alaska, after ten years of this legislation being on books, their violent crime rate actions went down rather considerably,” he said.
More than 33,000 people died from gun violence in the United States in 2013, according to GunPolicy.org, an online source for published evidence on armed violence, firearm law and gun control.
