Hackensack Police Director Calls for National Fingerprint Screening of Gun Buyers

Michael Mordaga

North Jersey dot com

When Michael Mordaga was a Hackensack detective, he was nearly killed when a suspected drug dealer rammed his car into him and two other officers during a drug stakeout on May 26, 1989.

With Mordaga, then 34 years old, snagged on the hood, the driver sped off. Mordaga reached for his gun and shot the driver through the windshield. The car crashed into a pole, sending Mordaga airborne and into a wall, leaving half his torso purple and blood gushing from his scalp. He thought he might die.

So it was troubling when Mordaga, now Hackensack’s civilian police director, recently got a call from the Virginia State Police telling him that the man who nearly took his life 24 years ago had been arrested with handguns. Authorities said Edward Carter Irvin, who served 12 years for attempted homicide in the incident that nearly killed Mordaga, had bought three guns in Virginia, which is known for its lax gun laws, by changing his name and denying he had ever been convicted of a felony.

For Mordaga, the phone call from Virginia was more than a reminder of his brush with death. It was proof, he said, of the need for a national fingerprinting system to screen gun buyers.

Background Checks for All Gun Sales

via NPR

Patricia Maisch, one of the people who helped halt the Tucson shooting , holds up a photograph of victim John Roll, a federal judge, while testifying before a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday. Maisch testified in support of legislation that would strengthen federal power over the states' handling of background checks.

Supporters of the legislation want to keep guns out of the hands of more criminals, domestic abusers and people who are mentally ill. They say that might have made a difference last January, when a gunman in Tucson, Ariz., killed six people and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Jared Loughner, who has been charged in the shooting, is being treated after he was found not mentally competent to stand trial.

Is the reluctance on the part of pro-gun folks to come on board with this due to the fact that in order to make universal background checks effective, registration and licensing would be the logical next steps?

Requiring background checks on every sale would greatly improve the current situation because many lawful gun owners unknowingly and innocently allow their guns to flow into the criminal world. This would cease.  Being law-abiding folks, these gun sellers would comply with the law and require background checks before selling.

Some gun sellers, whom I like to call "hidden criminals" are staying within the letter of the law, but for personal gain or apathy, they're knowingly allowing guns to go to criminals. These activities may not be prevented by a law requiring background checks but such a law will force these hidden criminals to come out in the open. Under the new law, anyone selling a gun without a background check is engaging in criminal activity.

So, although much improvement can be expexted from this background check law itself, only when it's combined with registration and licensing will it have maximum effectiveness. Straw purchasing will be eradicated and gun flow into the black market will be drastically curtailed.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Registration of Guns and Licensing of Gun Owners from the Alien Perspective

Aliens from a distant galaxy were approaching our solar system. Identifying Earth as the only habitable planet, they came for a closer look. One of the first things they noticed from a great distance was the air traffic and high-speed train movement. Realizing these were conveyances for moving people, they marvelled at the efficiency and complete lack of collisions and near-collisions. The coordination was impressive.

Coming a bit closer they began seeing the cars. Unlike the larger means of transportation, these seemed to be involved in countless mishaps and explosions. Everywhere they looked cars were running into each other and into other objects. The death and destruction was incalculable.

One alien said to the other, since these primitive vehicles are operated by humans, why don't they assign a numerical designation to each one which could be linked to the operator. This way they could easily identify the ones causing all the trouble.

The other alien, scanning the highly-advanced computer system, said, it seems they already have done this. Perhaps it means the quantity of problems has already been reduced to the level we observe.

Coming still closer, but maintaining a distant orbit, they began to observe another phenomenon: gunshots. They recognized these as primitive projectile-ejecting weapons. With each blast their computers registered the event. They watched horrified and amazed that a civilization advanced enough to register all cars and license all car-drivers would allow this.

Wouldn't registering those guns and tying them to the users the way they've done with cars eliminate much of the damage, asked the first alien.

The other more senior crew member said sadly it's time to return and make our report.

Canada's Gun Registry

The Advocacy Project published an interview last year with Wendy Cukier, in which the famous Canadian gun-control figure explained the benefits of licensing and registration.

...it would be impossible to ensure that licensed individuals do not give their guns to others not holding a license without the registry. The registration of firearms helps to enforce the licensing provisions of the Act.

To explain this, Ms. Cukier provided the example that if an individual has a license and purchases firearms without a registration requirement, there is no way to hold them accountable for those firearms or to prevent them from lending or giving them to an unlicensed person. In other words, registration results in accountability.

In addition, if a prohibition order is placed on someone and their firearms license is taken away, without the registry, the police have no way to know what firearms they should be seizing.

Lastly, Ms. Cukier explained that if guns are stolen after being improperly stored, owners are unlikely to report the theft as required by law. If guns are registered, in effect attaching the name of the gun owners to the firearm, owners are more likely to behave responsibly. Registration is an essential component in preventing the diversion of legal guns to illegal markets.

Clearly, the licensing and registry provisions included in the Firearms Act are interrelated, and licensing on its own cannot do what licensing and the registry can together. As Canada’s Supreme Court pointed out in their 2000 opinion on the constitutionality of the Act, the registry helps police officers to take preventative measures, and also aides in holding people who have misused firearms or sold them illegally responsible for their actions.

Doesn't this sound like an effective way to cut down on the gun flow to criminals? Admittedly, this would inconvenience gun owners, but wouldn't it be worth it?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.