Recent articles on Ohio gun thefts exposes fallacy of "universal" background checks

Every time a violent mentally-ill person chooses to use a firearm to carryout a mass killing, gun control extremists are quick to attempt to take advantage of the emotional aftermath with a renewed push for their pet legislation, even though, in almost every instance, nothing that they propose would have prevented the attack they're attempting to exploit.

Such is the case in the wake of the attack on Robb Elementary in Uvalde, TX. One of the most frequent demands from those who believe that making something that is already illegal even MORE illegal will somehow stop individuals bent on mayhem, is the call for so-called "universal" background checks. Pass "universal" background checks, we're told, close the "gun show loophole," we're told, and we can stop mass shootings!

According to so-called "common-sense" gun control extremists like Mark Kelley's "Americans for Responsible Solutions," for example, by mandating "universal" background checks we can "ensure that guns stay out of the hands of those prohibited by federal law." (emphasis added).

So according to these gun control extremists' "logic," the thieves about whom you are about to read wouldn't have been able to obtain the guns they stole had the law mandated background checks for every firearms transfer.

From a WEWS (ABC Cleveland) article entitled "More than 2 guns stolen in Cleveland every day, on average":

With Cleveland on pace for one of the deadliest years in the last decade, News 5 Investigators discovered the number of guns reported stolen in the city has skyrocketed over the last five years.

Cleveland police records show that between 2016 and 2021 the number of guns reported stolen jumped nearly 72%.

Between January 1, 2016, and May 9, 2022, records show 5,381 guns were reported stolen. That’s an average of more than two guns a day, every day, for more than six years.

Prosecutors say stolen guns are a major way convicted criminals and kids too young to legally buy guns are arming themselves, fueling violent crime across Northeast Ohio.

“It’s one of the easiest ways for a gun to get into somebody’s hands that shouldn’t have that gun,” said Ryan Bokoch, Supervisor of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office’s Crime Strategies Unit. “The more guns that are out on the street in the illegal stream of commerce is worrisome because they’re going to be used in crimes.”

These types of reports were mirrorred in a recent WBNS (CBS Columbus) article entitled "Columbus police 'absolutely alarmed' about trend of stolen guns from cars."

How can this be? Mark Kelley, and other gun-control ARSes claim all we have to do to stop criminals from getting guns - the way that we can "ensure" they don't - is to pass another law. Never mind that it there is a law in place prohibiting the breaking and entering, there is a law in place prohibiting the stealing of those guns, and there are more laws in place prohibiting the thieves from selling them.

Why, if it's so easy for criminals to obtain guns in the absence of a "universal" background check law, does the ATF say that firearms stolen during FFL burglaries have risen by 72.53% since 2012, and that firearms stolen during FFL robberies have risen by 213.56% since 2012?

Indeed, on the occasion of another such crime, Cincinnati's ATF Resident Agent Merrill was quoted by WKEF (ABC Cincinnati) as saying that more thefts are occurring because of efforts to keep guns out of the hands of criminals (and you and me?):

"I'd like to believe it's a result of [the fact that] it's getting harder for criminals to get guns so they have to take these measures and do burglaries," Merrill said.

And yet they want the American people to think that a law requiring that a background check be performed on every sale would make the people buying these guns from these thieves on the street say, "I wish I could, but we need to do a background check first."

Gun ban extremists aren't worried about these criminals' stolen guns, and the fact that their laws wouldn't affect them make that obvious. What they are worried about is YOUR guns, which is why their proposals DO focus on you.

Chad D. Baus served as Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary from 2013-2019, and continues to serve on the Board of Directors. He is co-founder of BFA-PAC, and served as its Vice Chairman for 15 years. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website, and is also an NRA-certified firearms instructor.