By Amarillo Globe-News
It is unfortunate that the U.S. Senate has to pass legislation requiring government agencies, not to mention the U.S. military, to do something they should already be doing, but so be it.
The senior U.S. senator from Texas, Republican John Cornyn, recently announced that he has the votes to pass what is being called the “Fix NICS” bill, a reference to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
The “fix” is needed following a mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs in 2017. The shooter had a history of domestic abuse and was given a bad conduct discharge from the U.S. Air Force in 2014. However, this information was not forwarded to the FBI database, which would have prevented the shooter from legally purchasing a firearm.
The bill requires federal agencies — and states — to “design plans for ensuring information is accurately reported to the database, and it would allocate resources to those agencies to help them do so. It would also set up a system of incentives and penalties for agencies who comply or fail to comply,” according to www.texastribune.org .
Again — why legislation is needed requiring federal agencies to do what common sense, if not the law, requires them to do anyway is curious. But if the end result helps prevent those who should not have legal access to firearms from getting their hands on weapons, then all is good.
Cornyn may get some criticism from those who are under the impression he is against gun rights, but such people are either misinformed or ignorant.
If federal agencies, and especially the U.S. military, are not going to forward information to a federal database (which already exists) regarding those who have forfeited their right to legally buy a firearm by exhibiting dangerous and/or criminal behavior, why have such databases in the first place?
This bill is not about gun rights.
This bill is about segments of the federal government doing what is right — and what they should already be doing.
