Broken Background Checks

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Broken Background Checks

Here is something to think about! How does the U.S. Government know you are who you say you are? I will use myself as an example. How do they know I’m Joe Average? Well, I have a driver’s license that has my full name embossed on it. The driver’s license is based on my social security card (which offers zero proof that I’m me) and my birth certificate. My birth certificate isn’t checked or validated in any manner, nor can it be validated. There is no National database of birth certificates and if there was, it would be 100% pointless and useless. What would a record in this database contain, a male baby was born on this date to these parents. Yep, that is exactly what it would contain, and no way to verify that I’m actually that baby, who was born on that date. Hell, there isn’t even an agreed-upon form for birth certificates, every state has its own. My wife and I are both from the same state and I was born 5 months before her and her birth certificate is totally different than mine. And to make matters worse, many states don’t track biometrics like fingerprints or footprints. This makes the birth certificate 100% useless as a means to prove identity. This also makes the Social Security card and number 100% to prove identity, as most people actually receive their SSN a year or more after they were born.Fingerprints on a cardThink about it for a second, this means that anyone could be anyone else and you have no way to prove it. It really is all “smoke” and “mirrors”. So if we implement “universal background checks”, what do we check? Well, the obvious, birth certificate, social security number, driver’s records, credit records, police records, and court records. But that is only going to state that Joe Average was born on this date and his SSN is 1234 and he has a clean driving record, an 876 credit score and has never been sued or arrested. All good, give that man a gun!I’m not being sarcastic, the above is 100% factual and exactly what would be checked and validated, that is because there isn’t anything else that can be checked or validated unless you belonged to a group, like Police, Fire, and the Military for example. Those groups and organizations would have some records on you as well, but for the average citizen, there isn’t much else that can be checked and validated.Universal background checks are pointless, and they will ONLY stop the law-abiding from obtaining a gun, but I firmly believe we still need to perform them. However, criminals will just purchase a gun illegally. Guns go back and forth over the southern border all day long, so this will not stop them.So what else can we do, we can’t check medical records as that is a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and to be honest it will only give the Government more ammo so to speak as to what you can and can’t do based off your medical issues. I know that I wouldn’t want the government to have any access to my medical records. Just think of it, you submit for a gun and they pull your medical and find that when you were 21 that while you were in college some 30 years ago that you got high on something at a party and had to go to the hospital. They don’t know the story, they aren’t going to ask, they will just say that you can’t be trusted, and “no gun for you!” But let’s say that the real story was that you were drugged unknowingly along with 15 other people at the party.The background checks are a total joke, they are only pulling a limited set of records, such as your police record, making sure that you have no criminal records (convictions, felonies), no mental health records (being committed or any ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’, no addictions), no juvenile delinquency records (oh wait, those are usually sealed), no active warrants, and no protective order information. Plus you need to be a legal US Citizen, if you served in the military you can’t have a dishonorable discharge.Ok, let’s not go down the medical records rabbit hole (I might do that in a future post). We have determined that the birth certificate is pointless. Your SSN is useless as well. Your driving record isn’t fair either, nor would it really provide a good picture as to if you should own a gun. Hundreds of vehicle accidents go unreported every single day, but what if you were 16 and got a speeding ticket, you are 55 now and have never been stopped since you were 16, does that make you untrustworthy? Your credit score shouldn’t really be used, it doesn’t prove anything beyond that you are good or not good with your money. I know plenty of irresponsible people that have healthy credit scores. Plus I know many people who own a ton of guns and live in a beat-up old van down by the river.Matt Foley (Chris Farley) - Saturday Night Live - Live in a van down by the riverDo we take a test? Well, I could be on board with that, but that would be considered infringing on someone’s right to own a gun. Plus this would allow the Government to be able to track who has a gun and who doesn’t. And some people are just not test takers but are very smart and trustworthy. But maybe you must be required to take a course so you can demonstrate how to use the damn thing?First, the Government has no reason to track me or other legal gun owners. I know firsthand how that information is used. If you purchase a new weapon, it has already been registered. Most modern guns have already been fired once and that bullet is entered into a ballistics database.I got it, how about a polygraph, they are used all the time to see if someone is a liar. But they can be defeated and are not 100% reliable. I have taken them before, they aren’t super fun either. Plus if you have certain types of medical conditions, the tests are more difficult to read and more difficult for you and the examiner. In my case, with my Rheumatoid Arthritis, I move my hands and feet all the time, to help avoid pain, but of course, you need to sit still for a polygraph. Never mind the costs and the backlog of people trying to get tested.PolygraphTo be 100% honest, I can’t come up with a method to reliably identify someone well enough to know if they are trustworthy. And I was always taught that if you don’t have a better solution, then don’t complain about the current one.Another scary point about background checks is where do we draw the line? What is considered to be bad enough that you can’t be trusted with a gun? And if you can’t be trusted with a gun, can you be trusted with a car, with a child, with a knife, with a …. you get the point.I have known some good Marines, that got discharged under a dishonorable discharge, as they got caught up in something. Case in point, while deployed to Japan, a married female Marine was having gang bangs with groups of male Marines. She shockingly ended up pregnant and claimed that she was raped. The investigation found out about the gang bangs and all the Marines involved received dishonorable discharges as most were married, they lied to the investigators and a few other things that I don’t have knowledge of. But does this mean, “no gun for you“?How about the single male Marine who got caught having his single female Navy girlfriend in his barracks room? This was strictly forbidden and he did it regardless. She got a slap on the hand and he got a discharge.  Does this mean, “no gun for you“?I understand some of the background checks, but I know of someone who is a registered sex offender because he was 18 and his girlfriend was 17. They met in school, but technically it is statutory rape and if convicted he would have to register as a sex offender, does this means, “no gun for you“?How about when you were 13 years old and you and your friends skipped school one day, and they ended up committing some small petty crime like you broke a window, and you got busted as you were with them. Your lawyer sucked and you got charged. As an adult that could mean “no gun for you“?As you see, there isn’t a one-size fits all rule, that actually works. I personally don’t feel that the last three scenarios warrant not being able to own a gun.
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Average Joe

Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.

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By Average Joe

Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.

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