Fewer mass shootings occur in states with more background checks: report

[jimmy the one]

7. discuss this

beevul: Its hard to give much credence to an article that starts with dishonesty before it really gets going.

everytown for gun safety: Alaska has the highest rate of gun violence in the US, for instance, and does not require background checks for handguns, but more than 80% of incidents are suicides, according to the CDC.

beevul: Federal law mandates a background check at retail, for EVERY firearms transaction, so while Alaska itself 'does not require' the federal government does.
Everytown and LCPGV are deliberately misleading people, and they know they're doing it.

Here's what LCPGV says about it, a catch22:

Federal law requires federally licensed firearms dealers (but not private sellers) to initiate a background check on the purchaser prior to sale of a firearm. Federal law provides states with the option of serving as a state “point of contact” and conducting their own background checks using state, as well as federal, records and databases, or having the checks performed by the FBI using only the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”) database.
Alaska is not a point of contact state for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Alaska has no law requiring firearms dealers to initiate background checks prior to transferring a firearm. As a result, in Alaska, firearms dealers must initiate the background check required by federal law by contacting the FBI directly.
Federal law does not require dealers to conduct a background check if a firearm purchaser presents a state permit to purchase or possess firearms that meets certain conditions.
As a result, holders of concealed weapons permits marked NICS-Exempt in Alaska are exempt from the federal background check requirement. (Note, however, that people who have become prohibited from possessing firearms may continue to hold state permits to purchase or permit firearms if the state fails to remove these permits in a timely fashion.)
Alaska does not require private sellers (sellers who are not licensed dealers) to initiate a background check when transferring a firearm. See our Private Sales policy summary for a comprehensive discussion of this issue. http://smartgunlaws.org/background-checks-in-alaska/

Discuss.