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player ready...It’s good to see the Oak Park Village Board come out in support of sanity.
You’d think sanity wouldn’t need much supporting. But when it comes to guns, sanity needs all the support it can get.
In the wake of the murders of nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C, there has been a renewed call for stronger gun legislation.
On June 15, the Oak Park Village Board lent its voice to this call by adopting a resolution seeking passage of federal legislation to require universal background checks on all gun sales. Surprisingly, such a requirement does not already exist.
In 1994, Congress passed the Brady Law which requires background checks for gun sales. But not all gun sales are by licensed dealers. There are exceptions, such as online sales, gun show sales and other private transactions. This means FBI background checks are required for only 60 percent of gun sales, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence a nonprofit gun control advocacy group.
It is toward closing these loopholes that the village board – rightly – adopted the resolution.
Such legislation doubtless will face massive opposition from gun lovers who see any regulatory action as the next step in the elimination of all our liberties.
And those opposing gun control have their own legislative efforts. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker last month signed a repeal of a state law in existence since 1976 requiring a 48-hour waiting period before Wisconsin residents could buy a gun.
In Illinois, residents must wait 24 hours to purchase a long gun and 72 hours to buy a handgun.
But there is no federally required waiting period to buy a gun. In many states, there is no waiting period and residents can receive a gun after an FBI background check. If that background check is not completed in three days, the purchaser may take possession of the gun.
I imagine many people who would be prohibited from buying a gun after a background check have gotten a gun because the background check process took more than three days. Perhaps the waiting-period issue ought to be added to the universal background check issue.
And perhaps there should be another village board resolution.
Of course, any add-on gun regulation efforts involving waiting periods will summon opponents out of the woodwork.
I recall an episode of “The Simpsons” when Homer wanted to buy a pistol and was told there was a waiting period.
His response: Doh! But I’m mad now!’
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Paul Sassone is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.