ACLU Opposes Universal Background Checks

ACLU Opposes Universal Background Checks

As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) works with other Senate Democrats to find a way to push their gun control package through, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is warning that universal background checks pose a threat to individual privacy and could lead to firearm registration.

According to the ACLU’s Chris Calabrese, “The current proposal for universal background checks raises…significant concerns.” One of which is the fact that the current legislative proposal for universal background checks does not guarantee that information gleaned from the checks will be destroyed within 24 hours. The NICS background check system, which is currently in place, requires personal information to be destroyed within 24 hours. 

Because of this, Calabrese said the ACLU is concerned that the form universal background checks being promoted by Democrats could lead to “the creation of government databases and collections of personal information.” And since the legislation being pushed by Reid stipulates that “a record has to be kept of a private transfer,” it’s hard to see how a database that lists every gun and every gun owner won’t be among those created if universal background checks are passed.

The NRA has been sounding this alarm from the moment Democrats began pushing for universal background checks in the wake of the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary. In this rare moment we see two civil liberties advocates–the ACLU and the NRA–fighting the same fight.

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