Reply #94: Heh...

[DoNotRefill]

"Your instant background check doesn't apply to our nation's gun shows, for instance, nor does it apply to people who have yet to commit a crime, nor does it prevent criminals from stealing guns from persons with clean criminal records, nor does it prevent criminals from getting their girlfriends or their roommates to buy their guns for them, etc. The way it is now, anybody who wants a gun can get one. Very easily."

Instant background checks do apply to gun shows, just not to private individuals. EVERY dealer at a gun show is by law required to conduct background checks. As for the rest of your list, everything you mentioned is illegal. Theft of a gun is a felony. Roommies or girlfriends buying guns for criminals is a felony (called a "straw purchase", in case you aren't up with the lingo). If you want to get a gun, and are willing to break the law, you can. How will your plan make that any different? After all, if you're willing to break a bunch of laws already, what does breaking one more mean?

As to the chilling effect of the AWB, WTF are you talking about? If you knew anything about the gun market, you'd know that manufacturers just left off the "evil features" like muzzle breaks and bayonet lugs. The AW ban did NOTHING to reduce the raw firepower available. If anything, it spurred on a buying spree of "neutered" AWs, INCREASING the raw firepower available. And while this buying spree was going on, crime continued to drop, as it had before the ban.