The Fall of the New York Times

A recent article from the New York Times tried to garner sympathy for the pro-gun control folks by presenting itself as an unemotional analysis of gun purchasing requirements around the world. Without hammering people over the head, it sought to juxtapose a two-step process for purchasing a gun in the USA (which they got wrong by the way) with the multiple step processes required in other countries around the world

You can access the NYT article by clicking here…

First and foremost, I was left wondering just why the NYT piece would omit the fact that a gun buyer must also fill out a form 4473 as part of the process. Is their reference to an ‘instant background check’ supposed to cover this time consuming step? Since they refer to the background check process as an “instant” background check, this explanation doesn’t really make sense. While it is true that filling out the form and running the background check can take an hour or so, why did they omit this important step from the process?

You can download a PDF version of the multi-page form 4773 by clicking here.

So what’s in a form?

Well, it turns out that there are several questions you must answer on form 4773, and putting down the “wrong” answer on any of those questions will get you immediately disqualified from purchasing a firearm. Questions like:

1) Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm listed on this form?

2) Are you under indictment or information in any court for a
felony, or any other crime for which the judge could imprison you for more than one year?

3) Have you ever been convicted in any court of a felony…

4) Are you a fugitive from justice?

5) Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?

6) Have you ever been adjudicated as a mental defective
OR have you ever been committed to a mental institution?

7) Have you been discharged from the Armed Forces under
dishonorable conditions?

8) Are you subject to a court order restraining you from harassing, stalking, or threatening your child or an intimate partner or child of such partner?

9) Have you ever been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence?

10) List your country of citizenship

11) Have you ever renounced your United States citizenship?

12) Are you an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United states?

13) Are you an alien who has been admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa?

“So what?” you ask. People can just lie on the form. That is precisely true. However, lying on this form is a felony and can get you up to five years in prison and a rather hefty fine. Also note that if you are ever convicted of a felony (as in lying on this form), you can NEVER AGAIN legally own a gun in America.

So I’m very curious as to just why the NYT chose to omit this fairly important step.

Another curiosity about the NYT article is their statement that roughly a third of all gun purchases and transfers in America occur without a background check (this is noted in a sidebar). However, they rely upon numbers from a study that is not yet completed (see this reference to a discussion of the study that clearly states that the study is not finished…even if they do try to soft pedal it a bit). In addition, I am curious about there comment about gun purchases “and transfers.”

Transfers are usually things like family members transferring gun ownership to another family member. Many, myself included, don’t support background checks in such cases. For one thing, it is illegal to privately sell a firearm to anyone if you know they have a felony conviction, or otherwise do not meet the criteria for gun ownership (again that form 4473 comes into play to guide you as to what disqualifies a person from gun ownership). Most family members would be aware of another family member’s felony convictions or other disqualifying characteristics.

But the really BIG omission from this list is the annotation of which of these nations believe that gun ownership is a right, rather than a privilege. Were they to add this very logical piece of information to their article, you’d see that only ONE nation considers gun ownership a right, and it quite understandably has the least amount of restrictions on purchasing a firearm…as you logically would expect.

You see, when a citizen’s right to own a firearm is reduced to having to justify why they “need” a firearm, then gun ownership isn’t really a right anymore. Gun ownership in that country has now become a privilege. Therefore, explanation of the “need” to own a firearm makes perfect sense in a country where gun ownership is not viewed as a right. This holds true for requiring onerous certifications, training, registrations, etc. All of these “requirements” move the ownership of a firearm out of the realm of “right” and over to “at the sufferance of the government”…which is in no way related to a “right.”

But the NYT piece glosses over the fact that the United States does indeed view firearm ownership as a RIGHT and not a privilege. As such, the process for obtaining a firearm SHOULD be devoid of any explanation to it’s need or intent of use (unless such intent of use is unlawful).

I find it ironic that as we see more and more pieces from the NYT, that they still cling to their slogan “All The News That’s Fit To Print”.

Perhaps a more fitting slogan for 2018 would be: “All the News That Fits Our Narrative.”