General response: When I am talking about cost and transactions, I am referring to criminals attempting to obtain weapons illegally, not legal purchases or transfers through an FFL. UBC and a database would have no impact on those sales/transfers.
1. Nationwide gun laws (such as UBC and a traceable database of sales) could significantly increase the risk associated with selling illegal guns.
Not possible without violating a whole bunch of state constitutions. They will need a bad SCOTUS decision and a bunch of Federal laws to get that.
Don’t disagree that the implementation may or may not be easy, but at the moment I am more concerned with the IMPACT if they were implemented. So, yes, there would be a big ol’ legal battle for sure.
2. Increasing the risk associated with selling an item increases the cost.
Risk for who? Crimes committed with guns already add significant time. None of that matters with the current "revolving doors" on our prisons.
Risk for the person selling the gun to a prohibited person.
Currently, in many state, selling guns to criminals is a pretty low risk proposition.
There is no way the gun can be traced to you if recovered by LE, and even if it IS traced to you, the “private sale” laws are so lax that it is very difficult to prosecute.
Adding UBC and a traceable database would reduce the number of guns that could reach the black market that can’t be traced and make non-UBC sales very easy to prosecute.
3. Increasing the cost reduces the number of criminals able to afford that item.
Have you checked the prices of HK and SIG pistols lately? Retail cost is at $900-$1050. Glocks are at $600. I am not sure where your argument is going here. Are you advocating for a very heavy tax on all firearm sales?
No, not talking at all about the retail price or taxes. Talking about the cost in a black market.
That cost is determined by supply, demand, and risk to the seller. If you decrease the supply and increase the risk to the seller, the cost in the black market will go up, pricing out low-end criminals.
4. Reduce the number that can afford it, the number using it (obviously) decreases.
So now the poor and middle class cannot afford guns due to some sort of tax. How does that work with the actual right to keep and bear arms? The policy contradicts the right, resulting in strangulation of the right. The government is not supposed to do that.
Not relevant, the cost in retail to law abiding buyers would not be affected (slight increase in used gun transfers for the background check, but not significant)
5. Thus, if you increase the risk of selling guns to criminals = decrease the number of criminals with guns.
How so? It is already a felony in various ways to do sell a gun to a criminal. Why do you think it is not risky for the law abiding citizen to sell a gun to a criminal?
Actually, no, it is not a felony (at least in my state) to sell to a felon.
It is a felony to KNOWINGLY sell a gun to a criminal, but that is not the same.
If I meet the requirements of law in my state (check ID for residency and ask them if they are a prohibited person) and sell to a criminal that lies to me, I have not committed a felony and I can’t be prosecuted.
Unless the prosecutor can prove that you KNEW you were selling to a felon, the actual sale is not illegal.
UBC changes that. By forcing every sale to go through a background check, if I sell to a felon without a check, I have committed a crime, there is no grey area of “knowingly” to hide behind.
Your actual goal here is to replace the right to keep and bear arms with the privilege to keep and bear arms. That goal requires some significant legislative and judicial gyrations to accomplish.
No… not really, not at all in fact. Adding UBC and a traceable database would have no significant impact on anybody’s ability to own a gun. It would add a minor logistical step in obtaining a used gun, but there is no real impact on the ability of anyone (outside of prohibited persons) to own a gun. You could own every gun you can own now, you could buy those guns from the same people/places you buy them from now, you could buy them at the same prices you buy them now.
