4 States Cast Their Vote On Firearm Background Checks

On Tuesday, residents in 4 states cast their vote and expressed their opinion in regards to the ballot question regarding a tightening of the firearm laws by introducing background checks.

The ballot questions addressed voters in Nevada, California, Washington States, and Maine. Out of the 4 states, Maine was the only one to reject the new measures, albeit at a small difference of 52 percent against and 48 percent for.

The proponents of the ballot measures were satisfied with the results garnered in the three approving states and declared that their smaller scale approach of just a few states at a time seems to be growing.

The three West Coasts states to have voted for a tightening of the gun laws by performing an additional background check will be modifying their laws as follows:

The ballot initiative voted in California will bring a number of modifications both to the selling of gun accessories and to the reports regarding said firearms.

The initiative will change the number of magazine rounds as the ones to feature more than 10 rounds will be outlawed. Also, those wishing to buy ammunition will be checked before being sold the respective products.

A failure to report stolen or lost guns and firearms will now potentially bring a criminal conviction to the ones that do not declare the loss.

Another new condition will allow the state of California, under certain circumstances, to seize the guns pertaining to convicted felons.

The new measures that will be adopted in Washington State after the ballot vote will feature an addition to their already existing extended backgrounds checks, which were passed back in 2014.

As of now, the state will also include extreme protection orders which basically means that the police and other authorized persons can avert people that were deemed dangerous for others or themselves from buying firearms.

The Nevada initiative was shown to have been the closest by far in terms of its results as the new measures were passed by a smaller than 10,000 votes difference.

The narrow win will introduce new and expanded background checks in the gun swap and sale between private parties.

The failed ballot measures which were to have been introduced in Maine was not much different from the ones listed above.

The initiative sought to close a present law loophole and thus stop domestic abusers, felons, and people diagnosed with mental illnesses from buying firearms.

Measure proponents sought to introduce an additional background check on private swaps and sales which also including the listings classified online so as to try and reduce gun violence.

According to University of Maine political science professor Mark Brewer, the initiative has most likely failed because of the language used in the proposal.

He states that the current language could have implied that even loaning a gun to a friend whilst on a hunting trip may be illegal, and that future ballot measures should be more carefully crafted so as to not lead to future misunderstandings.

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