Alaska Sen. Mark Begich this week became one of five Democrats voting against a bill before the U.S. Senate that would have expanded background checks to private sellers at gun shows and on the Internet, going against the party line and leading President Barack Obama to accuse lawmakers of having "caved" to the pressures from the gun lobby. On Friday, he spoke about his vote.
Begich joined four other Democrats in voting the bill down, crucial votes that gun-control advocates were hoping would help them reach the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster. Instead, the Manchin-Toomey amendment failed by a vote of 54-46. Joining Begich in voting against the bill were Democrats Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.
Begich, Baucus and Pryor are all up for re-election next year and perceived as potential targets to be unseated in their red-state homes. Heitkamp's home state of North Dakota is also a Republican stronghold, though she isn't facing a campaign soon. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid also voted no, a procedural move after it had already failed to get the necessary votes, allowing the amendment to be brought back up in the future.
Gun shows and online restrictions
The Manchin-Toomey amendment would have required private sellers at gun shows and online -- basically any setting where the sale of a gun is "advertised" -- to go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the same system used by licensed gun retailers when approving any customer for purchase of a firearm. That typically requires filling out a form and contacting the NICS System via telephone or online to determine if the buyer of a weapon is barred thanks to a past felony conviction, history of mental illness, or other factors.
It's typically not a lengthy process. But it's even easier when purchasing from a private seller, according to Troy Payne, an associate professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage who also holds a doctorate in criminal justice.
"If I wanted to buy a handgun from a private party, then I can do that," Payne said. "If I wanted to buy a handgun from you, I could do that. And in most states -- or in many states, I should say -- the paperwork that's required is almost nothing."
Part of the appeal of buying weapons in such a fashion is the ease, but there's also the ability to find a weapon from a private source not normally found in a store, such as a rare gun or older weapon with nostalgic appeal for a buyer.
'Common-sense things we can do'
On Wednesday, Begich's office issued a statement that the senator had voted against the bill out of concern that it would have infringed on Americans' Second Amendment rights.
"I've said all along that there are common-sense things we can do to keep our communities safe, but we must do them without undermining our Second Amendment rights," Begich said in the statement. "Unfortunately the bill on the Senate floor today would have done just that."
He added that he would like to see improvements to existing systems instead of creating new rules for background checks. Citizens who would be authorized to purchase guns at a licensed retailer would receive similar authorization to purchase from private sellers, since the two would use the same system.
Begich on Friday dismissed the notion that he voted the way he did in hopes of bolstering his 2014 re-election chances, saying that he's always held a pro-gun stance, reflecting the state where he grew up.
"My position on guns hasn't changed in over 25 years in public office," Begich said. "National press guys use those lines, but they don't bother going back four years and look at the record. Suddenly, in an election year, it's like you're going to go change your votes or your patterns all of a sudden."
Begich said that as many as 600,000 people have been declared mentally incompetent by the court system but have yet to be added to NICS, meaning that gaps in the existing system could allow weapons into the hands of those who should be disqualified from purchasing firearms. He said that 2,000 of those cases exist in Alaska alone, and he questioned why they hadn't been updated in state databases.
"If they claim they don't have the money, that's a bunch of bull," he said, adding that if it's a problem with the system, that needs to be addressed first.
Another issue that Begich pointed out was potential gaps in the way that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms deals with gun stores that may violate the law. He pointed to one store that had more than 500 violations before being shut down -- but not before it had (legally) sold two guns that were used in the Newtown, Conn., elementary school massacre in December that left 20 children dead. Begich sent a letter on April 15 to acting ATF Director B. Todd Jones demanding answers to why.
Chair of the Alaska Democratic Party Mike Wenstrup offered a show of support for Begich's vote, despite the fact that it strayed from most other Democratic senators, saying the first priority should be improving and updating NICS.
"Senator Begich has said that he supports making the system work, and that is our single best opportunity to reduce gun violence," Wenstrup said. "Improving the existing background check system is consistent with Alaska Democrats' support for the rights of gun owners and improved public safety."
Murkowski unwilling to 'chip away' at Second Amendment
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, also voted against the Manchin-Toomey amendment, citing a similar defense of the Second Amendment.
"I wish we had accomplished something this week in dealing with gun violence, but I was not willing to compromise our Second Amendment rights," Murkowski said in a statement Thursday. "I will continue to protect law-abiding Alaskans' right to bear arms and fight proposals that attempt to chip away at that right. I will also continue to work to advance sound legislation with my Senate colleagues that keeps the guns away from criminals, that keeps the guns away from the mentally ill."
Sens. Manchin and Toomey even attempted to appeal to Murkowski by inserting a clause in the bill that would exempt those living in far-flung, remote areas from the background check requirements -- which much of rural Alaska falls into.
Begich said that language didn't go far enough, and would require those in rural areas to go through an intermediary who holds a federal firearms license (FFL). Oftentimes, Begich said, in remote villages of Alaska, there is no proper gun store, but instead a few individuals might hold an FFL in order to obtain a discount on ammunition, but not to act as a gun seller. In the end, Begich said, some rural Alaskans would have to go through extra hoops to obtain a firearm, infringing on their Second Amendment rights.
Begich didn't commit to any possible future support of expanding background checks, saying that such checks can only go so far, and gun exchanges or deals between individuals at a gun show or elsewhere would be difficult to regulate regardless of the legislation on the books.
"I think it's going to be very difficult to have private sales between individuals added to it," Begich said. "If you're a dealer or a seller with a booth at a gun show, selling multiple guns for profit and you don't have a license, that's already illegal."
The Senate did support other amendments to the firearms bill, including one co-sponsored by Begich that targets better identification of mental illness and a Republican amendment bolstering the privacy of gun sales data.
President Barack Obama expressed his disappointment with the vote on Wednesday, saying in the hours after the vote that it was "a pretty shameful day for Washington." Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, shot in the head during a meeting with constituents in 2011, said in a New York Times opinion piece that the Senate "gave in to fear and blocked common-sense legislation that would have made it harder for criminals and people with dangerous mental illnesses to get hold of deadly firearms."
Advocates were calling for tighter restrictions on the purchase and ownership of firearms in hopes of keeping them out of the hands of shooters Jared Lee Loughner, responsible for the 2011 shooting of Giffords and the killing of six others. Loughner was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic following his arrest. Increasing the reach of background checks was one place where gun-control advocates hoped they could get a congressional win.
"If you think about it, the amount of paperwork that you have to do to transfer ownership of an automobile is less than the amount of paperwork you have to do to transfer ownership of a gun," said Payne, the UAA professor.
For people of a certain political leaning, that can be hard to swallow, he added. But driving a car isn't among the rights guaranteed in the Constitution, whether state or federal, which makes the argument against increased registration all the more compelling.
"Particularly here in Alaska, where we have a state constitution that guarantees an individual's right to bear arms," Payne said. "The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is somewhat vague ... but in the Alaska Constitution, it's very clear."
Contact Ben Anderson at ben(at)alaskadispatch.com