>>Pros: Individuals will have a means by which they can be assured the person to whom they transfer a gun is not prohibited. As things are I can favor allowing NICS access by private persons through a law enforcement office for a voluntary check. This would be a tool for a regular individual to be certain that the person to whom they transfer a gun isn't on the prohibited list.
Making this mandatory does two things that I consider problems.
First, if both persons are fine with breaking the law, making UBCs mandatory won't stop them. Making UBCs mandatory would point to developing a means for administratively enforcing that law. That would be registration.
Second, inane "crimes" have resulted in places where BGCs are mandatory for all transfers. Having to get a BGC to lend your brother a gun for an hour or 3 weeks is stupid. Having to get another on its return is even more stupid.
>>Cons: I don't see how UBCs will have a big impact on crime. As I said above, I don't see them as a big problem for the honest regular folks, if they're reasonable. Without a big picture game plan on the part of the pro-control folks which excludes things such as registration, bans, onerous transfer BGCs and the like, a mandatory UBC law smacks of incremental style control and is viewed as the edge of the slippery slope.
I'm okay with a watch list, no-fly list, list of active investigations, etc. being grounds for certain restrictions,
IF the individual's presence on the list is subject to judicial appeal and scrutiny. If the status of an individual is seriously and sufficiently problematic and requires secrecy and the need to classified beyond that appeal and scrutiny, the individual should be arrested and charged or deported.
Secret lists of legal residents/citizens + denial of rights = evil.
If you want to investigate someone because of "reasonable suspicion", good, that's a valid use of law enforcement. If they need to make a list of those folks, fine.
If the only purpose to the extra-judicial list is the restriction of certain rights, they should go pound sand.
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