NRA Chooses Greg Lavelle and Ernie Lopez to Scuttle Criminal Background Checks.

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Any doubts that the Delaware Republican Party is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Rifle Association should now be laid to rest. Former NRA Executive Director (and State Rethug Chair) John Sigler has anointed his serial bloviator and vice-chair Sen. Greg Lavelle as the person best-suited to kill mandatory criminal background checks on firearms transactions.  With an assist from self-styled 'moderate' Sen. Ernie Lopez. Lavelle's tortured explanation as to what his newly-proposed legislation would do goes like this. According to the News-Journal quote, his bill:
"...doesn't mandate background checks. It doesn't create a registration. It allows people to make smart decisions for themselves."
Great. Because people always make smart decisions for themselves. Especially when it comes to deadly weapons that they're unloading for cash. And, if they don't, they could be in trouble once the bodies are scraped off the bloody sidewalk. Lavelle's attempt to scuttle criminal background checks would make 'it a crime to sell a firearm to someone prohibited from possessing guns'. Got that? It would be up to the seller to conduct a criminal background check on a prospective purchaser. (Or, perhaps, to look soulfully into their eyes.) Except, of course, any seller would not have access to any sort of data base. And Ernie Lopez, marching in lockstep, has proposed a bill to increase penalties for those who 'knowingly' sell firearms to someone prohibited. Even by NRA standards, this is pathetic. Without background checks, the gun sales addressed by HB 35 would be 'unaddressed' by the Lavelle and Lopez proposals. After all, under their proposals, ignorance is a deliberate defense. 'I didn't know that this guy was a three-time loser.' All righty then. Let's call this for what it is: An attempt to muddy the waters just enough to deep-six common-sense legislation. It's up to you to let your legislators know that you will not stand for this. And for you Brandywine Hundred/Greenville denizens who supported Greg Lavelle and, for that matter, Ernesto Lopez last time? They're both up for reelection in 2014.