Jointogether.org: ''Why Are Teddy Bears More Regulated Than Guns?''

After reading this summary of the regulations required to purchase a firearm in Ohio, as published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, you'll realize the real question everyone should be asking is:

Why should ANYTHING anti-gun groups say be taken seriously?

Click on the "Read More..." link below for more.

Requirements for gun buyers
08/28/03
Cleveland Plain Dealer

With a few exceptions, anyone who buys a firearm from a licensed gun dealer in Ohio must provide a government-issued photo ID (such as a driver's license) and fill out a federal Firearms Transaction Record (Form 4473), requiring name, address, age and place of birth.

The exceptions are licensed dealers, and antique and most muzzleloading weapons.

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On the federal form, gun buyers must certify that:

They are not under indictment or previously convicted of a felony or misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

They are not fugitives from justice, illegal immigrants or drug users.

They have not been dishonorably discharged from military service, adjudicated mentally defective or formerly committed to a mental institution.

Before completing the sale, the gun dealer must clear the transaction by calling the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) which can approve the buy, deny it, or delay it for three days, pending additional study.

However, if additional background checks conducted beyond the three days reveal a reason for not approving the transfer, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will be notified and efforts made to recover the gun and possibly pursue criminal charges if the weapon was fraudulently obtained.

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According to the FBI, there were more than 35 million firearms transfer requests from 1998, when the NICS system was implemented, through 2002. About 500,000 of those requests were denied, primarily due to buyers with felony convictions.

A separate form containing information on buyers of two or more handguns at a time (or in five consecutive business days) must be sent by the dealer to the National Tracing Center the same day of the purchase.

Out-of-state buyers can take rifles or shotguns home with them (if allowed by their home state). Handguns must be mailed to a federally licensed gun dealer in their home state.

Every weapon purchased or sold by a gun shop must be recorded, along with the buyer's name and address, and kept indefinitely on file at the shop.

-- Brian Albrecht
Additional details on federal, state, county and local ordinances governing firearms can be found in the publications section of the ATF Web site, www.atf.gov.

Click here to read the story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Click here to read about how hard the poor teddy bear manufacturers have it at Jointogether.org.