I don't understand how people can hear "background checks & closing loop holes" and then their brain translates that to "Obama is coming to take my guns".

If you are worried about having your guns taken because of a background check or because you cant buy guns anonymously then i got news for you. You are not a law abiding citizen. You are a criminal.

The other thing i don't get is why gun nuts think that liberal or democrat automatically means anti-gun. I know thousands of liberal democrats who are not only pro gun but they own more than one and they use them for target practice, hunting and home defense and many are now legally carrying concealed weapons.

This is not a partisan issue. This is a common sense issue.

"Criminals are going to get guns anyway" is the war cry from the gun nuts. Heres the problem with that assumption. Most criminals who have guns purchased them. The idea that teams of gun thieves are combing the streets robbing people with guns is ridiculous. Do thieves steal guns? Of course they do but the bulk of guns found in the hands of criminals were purchased from grey/black market dealers who...

A.Picked them up anonymously at the gun show/swap meet.
B.Are legal gun dealers but are selling weapons sideways.

The government actually does a pretty good job of arresting those who fall under B. but only after hundreds of guns hit the streets. Those under A. Almost never get caught because no one even knows they had the firearm in their possession.

I also think there needs to be some sort of tracking or accountability for gun collections that belonged to people who died or go to prison. My great grandfathered died leaving behind a 1000+ piece gun collection that got divided up between family members. Most of those 1000+ guns were purchased used so the original owners are dead. Any family member holding one of those weapons can kill anyone they want, dump the gun and nothing points back to them. I would wager my great grandfathers gun collection story isn't unique. How many old guys die in Chicago only to have their drug addict offspring hand their guns over to drug dealers for product?

I have one issue with Obama's recent anti-gun speak. "Providing mental health records". Obviously i would like to know if a crazy person wants to buy a gun but if some guy gets divorced and goes a little nuts for a while and talks to a therapist or gets medication i don't think its fair for him to be flagged. Same goes for military men and women who come back shell shocked or PTSD'D or whatever they call it when service people need some time to get back into the swing of things. Should a marine lose his ability to own a firearm just because he came home...went a little nuts for a while? I don't think so.

This is an old NY Times article. I can remember playing basketball at 15 years old at the local park and having a minivan pull up with brand new packaged glocks for sale @ $500 each. A dozen teenagers standing around being asked if they want to buy a gun in broad daylight. [Link: nytimes.com]