Back in March House Bill 398 was filed in North Carolina. The bill would repeal the requirement that someone must first obtain a permit prior to purchasing a handgun, a system put in place in North Carolina in the bad old days of the Jim Crow era to ensure that only the “right kind” of folks (i.e. the white kind) could legally get a gun. It’s the type of discriminatory and inequitable system that the Left should be railing against, but the anti-gun crowd doesn’t want to give it up.

More and more jurisdictions are coming to the realization that not only are purchase permits doing nothing to curb crime, they are also redundant. Since the inception of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), it has mooted the need for purchase permits in any state. These permits are just bureaucratic roadblocks placed in front of law abiding citizens.

The NICS system does all the work for the states. Unless, in some alternate universe where the FBI does not know that someone has a criminal background, why can’t the system that the anti-freedom crowd wanted in place be trusted? Especially in 2021, there are no excuses for states to not appropriately report disqualifiers to the FBI.

Like a well oiled machine, gun-grabbers crawled out of the woodwork to weigh in. One such opinion piece in the News Observer aims high in stating that the abolishment of the permitting system will lead to more suicides and gun related violence. The piece, quixotically written by Becky Ceartas, the executive director North Carolinians Against Gun Violence in Durham states in part:

Let me be perfectly clear, the repeal of this system will drive up gun death rates in our state and must be defeated.

Evidence shows that firearm licensing is one of the most effective policies in reducing both gun homicide and suicide. By requiring a permit for the purchase of a handgun, a process that goes through North Carolina sheriffs and requires a background check, the permitting system helps ensure that guns are not falling into the hands of individuals who have a history of violence or are at risk of future violent behavior. Federal law only requires that licensed firearms dealers conduct background checks, leaving ample opportunity for people who should not own guns to attain them without a background check through gun shows, online and private sales. This law is an effective tool in addressing gun violence in North Carolina, and we have real world data to prove that.

That’s a lot to digest. Back to my former point, NICS does the work for the states on doing background checks. Picking apart some of what Becky had to say she points to Federal law. She brings up the false flag of the “gun show loophole”, a mythical being much like a ghost gun. Every Federally licensed gun dealer at a gun show must conduct background checks. While peer to peer transactions have yet to be Federally outlawed (although the anti-freedom caucus is trying) the gun dealers shall do checks.

Also listed is the potential for “online” sales. Well Becky, you get another Pinocchio there for that one. I invite you to jump online, pick a site. There are plenty out there that sell guns. Order yourself a firearm from one of these sites and report back to us about the process. The process includes listing what FFL a buyer wants their firearm to be shipped to. Why? Because there has to be a background check. For a dealer to sell a firearm off the internet directly to an individual would be a violation of Federal law. Can you please add that to your list of talking points?

Let’s look at Becky’s real world data:

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University attribute Connecticut’s passage of a 1995 firearm licensing law to a significant decrease in gun violence in the state. From 1995 to 2017, Connecticut saw a 28% decrease in firearm homicide and a 33% decrease in firearm suicide.

According to Statista as well as many other sources, since 1991 violent crime has been on a decline nationwide, not just in Connecticut. There were  upticks in 2005, 2006, 2012, and from 2014-2016. But, overall, violent crime has been on the decline. So Becky, what you mean to say is from 1995 to 2017, Connecticut’s violent crime rate followed suit with the rest of the country? Another inconvenient truth concerning Connecticut is the fact that since so-called “red flag” laws have been on the books, yes the number of firearm related suicides have decreased, however the overall numbers of suicides have increased. All she is doing is playing smoke and mirrors with numbers.

What has increased since the 90’s? Private firearm ownership. The number of people that have been exercising their constitutional right have been on the rise. Another thing that is grossly overlooked by just about everyone is the lead-crime hypothesis, but that is another matter for another day. Spoiler alert, when the children that were “beneficiaries” of lead being removed from consumer products became adults, violent crime rates started to decrease. But, like Becky, that is just playing with statistics.

The anti-freedom caucus is in a frenzy over any increase in the civil rights of American citizens. They are about control, period. Prohibitionist attitudes towards anything do not work. Something called Prohibition proved that. How about the war on drugs? Drugs would appear to be the victor, since we’re now seeing many states that have decriminalized cannabis. All the Beckys and Karens out there need to chill out. The NICS system is still in place. If you have a beef with how your particular state reports violent crime to the FBI, maybe that is what you should be adverting your attention to. This was a system that was wanted by anti-gunners, they have it, and now they’re saying its not good enough? Want to stop violent crime? Cast your eyes at the root causes, not towards the tools that criminals may use. And get that stupid Jim Crow-era pistol purchase permit law off the books in North Carolina.