Your Aug. 31 editorial, “Our View: Give all firearms sales in Maine the same level of scrutiny,” was misguided and neglects to recognize a few axiomatic realities.
• First: You mention the horrific events in Connecticut and last week in Virginia, but neither of those events would have been thwarted with this referendum’s proposed reforms.
None of the high-profile violent incidents would have been prevented with these reforms. In fact, with one exception, all high-profile shooters have purchased their weapons systems legally and gone through the federal background checks that this referendum would expand.
The background check system is ineffective: It fails people who should pass, but passes people who should fail – like the recent shooter at Charleston’s AME church.
• Secondly, you cite the disproven statistic that 40 percent of gun sales are conducted without a background check. This statistic is derived from an academic study that considered all transfers sales.
Firearms, especially in states such as Maine, are commonly given as gifts or willed between family members. Many firearm “sales” are also conducted between parties who have known each other for decades, like neighbors, co-workers or members of the same social clubs.
All of these transfers have to be considered “sales” to reach this 40 percent statistic, and that is why The Washington Post Fact Checker gave this 40 percent claim a “three Pinocchio” rating, indicating “significant factual error.”
• Lastly, you claim that those of us who oppose universal background checks haven’t proposed “any solutions to … gun-related deaths.” Again, this claim is simply factually false; we’ve been addressing this problem for years.
Violence in our society is at a 40-year low, thanks to “getting tough on crime” initiatives. We also support reforms to our mental health system, and reforms supporting the sanctity of life.
I’ll be opposing this referendum.
Jake Stoddard
Buxton
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