Quote Originally Posted by JAB1985 View Post
I think were pretty close on thoughts about what guns one can own and some other issues, but i get that hes not for stricter screening and ok with what we have currently, where i think its not really good enough or broad enough as is, which I think is Silvers opinion as well (although he wants to handle it another way with higher licenses fees). Any state where you can go in and just buy a gun that day, any gun, without proper background check and psychiatric screening is pretty much defeating the purpose of such things. to my knowledge, and i may be wrong, Psychiatric aspect is not currently apart of the screening process which I think would be beneficial to the purpose of such things, as we both agree these laws arent for criminals but to keep guns away from those that arent responsible or danger to themselves or others without obvious intentions of bypassing the law.

The system im describing wouldnt change anything for criminals and would not be 100% effective for those small percentage of law abiding citizens either, but i think it would cut down on some of those crazies that go on shooting sprees, which in turn may actually lessen any gun control laws we do have over time, by limiting those instances to call for gun control.
Not sure how you would implement a psychiatric screening for potential gun owners, or how that would even be effective.

I know in Texas, if you have a diagnosed condition and you were confined to a mental health facility or eligible to be confined to one, you can't get a gun. I believe 30 or so other states have similar laws. If you're referring to those type of restrictions, I agree with you and they are already in place.

But are you suggesting potential gun owners actually sit down and speak with a mental health professional prior to buying a gun? If so, that's incredibly burdensome and wholly ineffective.

Mentally unstable folks will act very much like criminals. They wont care about the legal way to obtain something and, instead, will opt for whatever means of getting a gun to accomplish their goal. The only thing such a meeting will do is slow down the purchase for already law-abiding, sane citizens.