Video: Gun Store Owners Weigh In On Federal Background Checks

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NORTH MISSISSIPPI, (WCBI)- As the topic of gun control continues to heat up on Capitol Hill, local gun shop owners believe lawmakers are missing the mark.

L.L. Mitchell owns Mitch’s gun shop in Hamilton. He says Congress’s plan to expand federal background checks to gun shows and internet sales is not the solution to senseless gun violence.

“I think they should be concentrating on getting this country back to the Good Lord and get them back working instead of worrying about taking away people’s guns. Gun shows, takes on a big area because you’ve got individuals that are selling and you’ve got dealers selling. And the dealers selling already have to do the background checks. And on internet sales, the only way a person can ship a gun on the internet is sending it to another licensed dealer so that the background check is already in place. The only thing it would have an effect on would be individuals selling guns to someone else.”

Mitchell also believes the checks will only place guns in the wrong hands.

” Every time the government comes up with a law they put a whole lot of stipulations on the public to own a weapon. No matter how much you do regulating these things, the crook is always gonna have access to a weapon, by stealing it from someone or something like that,” said Mitchell.

Dwight Stevens owns Steven’s Auction Company in Aberdeen and knows for a fact, people will find ways to evade background checks.

“The thing about the gun laws are, we can go to person’s house and do an estate auction and sell as many guns as we want to, there’s no paperwork to do. We can sell assault weapons. We’ve even sold machine guns and there’s no paperwork,” said Stevens.

But he does support stricter laws on assault rifles.

“These assault weapons I think are a little overboard and I don’t know why anyone would want to own them anyway,” said Stevens.

Those who are for the new proposal say the federal background checks could help police track future gun crimes. Senate leaders still have to vote on the proposal.