Family members of gun victims rally for better background checks (Portland, OR)

[jpak]

http://www.katu.com/news/local/118405779.html

PORTLAND, Ore. – Family members of murder victims gathered outside City Hall Monday to call for a better background check system.

Teressa Raiford is the aunt of 19-year-old Andre Payton, who was shot and killed by a suspected gang member in downtown Portland last September. Six months later his killer is still free.

“They haven’t found them, and that’s the problem with these illegal weapons,” Raiford said. “The shooters are never found, they’re not attached to anybody.”

Outside City Hall, Raiford joined others like Omar Samaha, whose sister died in the April 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. They’re calling for a national Do Not Sell database that’s up-to-date and requires background checks for all private gun sales.

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[rl6214]

1. Boy, you are in rare form today, got your google on

Making up for lost time?

[PavePusher]

2. And what, exactly, do background checks have to do with this death?

Do you think the gang member bought his gun at a gun shop? Or even a gun show?

Seriously, major disconnect here.

[NickB79]

3. Huh, even Portland's police don't think stricter background checks would help

That's pretty surprising, hearing it from the assistant police chief himself.

"Portland police said tougher background checks wouldn’t necessarily keep guns out of the hands of gang members.

“They don’t buy them at gun stores,” said Portland’s Assistant Police Chief Eric Hendricks. “They end up getting them from a variety of ways. But in Portland, they’re typically taken in car prowls where folks leave firearms unattended in vehicles.”"

[friendly_iconoclast]

4. I guess we weren't supposed to read *that* part of the article.

Kinda negates all that creative editing, dontcha think?

[X_Digger]

5. How do they know the sale of the unknown gun to an unknown person was illegal?

More wharrgarble.

Fully funding and implementing the 2007 NICS Improvement Act is a laudable goal. Anything else? Take a flying leap.