Debate Magazine
The Denver Post
Previously released statistics related to the newly regulated private sales of guns in Colorado — figures which became a flashpoint in recent legislative debates — don't tell the full story.
The actual number of private gun purchases submitted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation is much lower, a Denver Post analysis finds.
While the Colorado Bureau of Investigation reported in January that 6,198 private-sale checks were conducted from July 2013 — when the law went into effect — through December, the actual number is almost half that.
That's because, under the "private checks" category, the CBI lumped in the newly regulated private sales with sales conducted at gun shows, which the bureau has tracked since 2001.
The Post asked the CBI to separate out the new sales and found that for the six-month period, there were only 3,838 background checks. Forty of those resulted in denials, or a rate of 1.04 percent, according to The Post's findings.
During those same six months, CBI processed 2,361 background checks from gun shows, also netting 40 denials, according to The Post's findings.
First of all, I have to say, with this new law, private sales have not been banned, as one of our commenters continually says.
Secondly, regardless of the percentage, the 40 people denied a gun sale make the whole thing worthwhile.
Thirdly, this story is all about convenience vs. inconvenience. A few thousand lawful gun owners had to go through the inconvenience of doing a background check in order to prevent 40 known unfit people from obtaining a gun. Only the most fanatical extremist self-centered maniacs would complain about that.
