I recently had the pleasure of being part of a group of people who all sat down to have a rational, reasonable and polite discussion on gun control. There were both proponents as well as opponents of gun control.
While the evening was enjoyable and educational, one thing immediately emerged: When asked who knew what it took to legally purchase a firearm, none of the proponents of additional gun control laws raised their hands. This is something that fundamentally needs to be addressed.
To legally purchase a firearm (rifle, shotgun or handgun) in Massachusetts, you are required to first take a gun safety class from a certified instructor. Once you complete that class, you need to call your local police department and make an appointment to apply for a license.
In the Bay State, we have two licenses: The first is the FID (Firearms Identification Card) card. With an FID card, you can purchase rifles and shotguns and associated ammunition.
The second is an LTC (License To Carry). With an LTC, you have the same benefits as an FID card, but you can also now purchase handguns and associated ammunition, as well as carry a firearm for personal protection. Without either of these cards, you can not legally even touch a firearm.
When you apply for a license with your local police department, under state law, the chief of police can deny you an FID or LTC card for any reason. Some chiefs simply will not issue either card in their community. For example, in Springfield, you may get an LTC with a limit that you can only use it for sporting and target shooting — you can not carry it for personal protection.
However, if you live across the river in West Springfield or just south in Agawam, you will at least be considered to have a license to carry for personal defense, among other lawful purposes.
If your local chief allows for FID and LTC licenses, you complete the application, get fingerprinted, have your photo taken and pay a fee $100. That information is then sent to the Massachusetts State Police for a background check that includes an FBI background check.
Assuming that you get your license, you can now purchase a firearm that your license allows. When you go to purchase any firearm, there again is a background check on you. This background check is run through the National Instant Check System (NICS).
The NICS database began in 1994 and is supposed to have the names and birth dates of convicted felons, domestic abusers, dishonorably discharged people, anyone with a DUI or drug offense and individuals deemed mentally insufficient by the state, among may other disqualifiers.
Any legal firearm owner, no matter what state you reside in, has had at least one FBI background check.
When we hear cries for a “universal background check,” it already exists — the NICS database.
One large issue is the quality of the data in the database, however. Currently, HIPPA laws are preventing entering the names of those with mental illnesses into the database. According to the Boston Globe, between 1999 and 2013, Massachusetts, for example, submitted only one name of a person with mental illness to the database. During that same time, the state processed 1.6 million background checks of citizens getting licenses or purchasing a firearm.
Likewise, our armed forces do not routinely enter the names of dishonorably discharged individuals into the database, as in the case of the Texas church shooter. Had he been in the database, he would never have been able to legally purchase any firearm.
We all want to keep firearms out of the hands of people with mental illness. Yet, as of 2013, 25 states do not require the reporting of people deemed mentally insufficient by the state to the NICS database, including Massachusetts. This has to end. We need to modify the HIPPA laws regarding mental health.
This writing does not even address the myriad of Massachusetts firearm laws, too many of which are vague and contradict each other.
Enforcing laws already on the books and mandating states and our armed services to update the NICS database is the best beginning for effectively controlling who has access firearms.
But in the end, we must ask ourselves: If criminals, people with mental illnesses and terrorists don’t obey current laws, what makes people think that they will obey future laws? How does disarming law abiding citizens make everyone safer?
Kirk Whatley, of Hadley, owns Whatley Training LLC.