The time to act is now...

Picture this. A man walks into a business that looks like a friendly neighborhood establishment.  He shops around, looking at all of the products until he finally finds one that strikes him.  He takes it to the counter, plunks down his cash, flashes a driver's license and walks out with his brand new item.  He looks at the side of it, and there in big, bold letters, he reads:

"Colt .45"[1]

And the only people who know about this purchase is the young man and the manager who sold it to him. 

All too easily, these people buy very dangerous products such as this without background checks, without psychiatric evaluation, and without even being required to undergo ANY education about how to use these products safely. The products themselves bear dangerous names that conjure up images of violence..."AK47", ".357 Magnum", and "Tommy Gun", and danger themed, glorifying "buy me now" terms like, "Zombie", "Lone Star", and "Scorpion". [2] And in most cases, you can just walk in to an establishment, and after a mere formality or two, be handed one of these dangerous items right over the counter, ready for use, without training or certification of any kind. In some situations, no identification is required at all.

No background check.  No waiting period.  No vetting.  Nothing.  If you have the cash, you take it home, no questions asked. 

Predictably, carnage ensues. Year after year; the wheels keep turning to the tune of 88,000 deaths per year, [3] according to the CDC. Yet, day after day, year after year, our lawmakers do NOTHING to stop the killing.  These industries of death use their influence and big lobbying organizations to bully lawmakers to look the other way, or even to subsidize these mortality merchants.

Even when people are arrested for abusing these products, they are often turned back out on the street by a revolving-door legal system, and they are soon emboldened to act even more recklessly and risk even more lives.  

And it's tragic.  Because these items have no legitimate use other than to kill people and wreck lives all over our country. Greed and callous indifference maintain the status quo.

The time to act is now. There is not one second to spare, nor one more life to be lost. Call your Congressman and demand common sense legislation! For the children!  Because it is TIME.

It is time for limits on sales.  No one needs to make more than one purchase a month.[4]

It is time for background checks.  We need to know that the purchasers are of good moral character and of sound mental capacity. [5]

It is time for registration.  Every single product must carry a serial number so it can be tracked back to the location of purchase, and responsibility can be determined. [6]

It is time to limit the capacity or power of these products in order to minimize the damage that they do.  [7]

It is time for "one strike and you are out laws" to prevent felons from ever getting their hands on these dangerous products, ever again.[8]

Yes, concerned citizen.  It is past time. 

Past time to stand up to the Alcoholic Beverage industry.  We need tough regulations to keep alcohol off our streets and out of the hands of children and away from repeat offenders so not one more child dies.

We don't want to ban alcohol, nor do we want to bring back Prohibition.  We just want a few common sense changes to protect our children and our loved ones from crazed alcoholics committing DUI's, distributing alcohol to our children, and perpetrating violence on our communities.

OUR POSITION

We believe in the right to enjoy alcoholic beverages safely and responsibly.  But, too many have taken this to extremes, to the detriment of our country.  We simply want common sense controls and for purchasers of alcohol to become responsible members of the community.  To that end, we propose some common sense reforms.  To start, we support implementing the existing and proposed regulations that already apply to another product under BATF regulation; firearms.

For all alcoholic beverages, we propose:[9]

1. Five day waiting periods for all purchases of alcohol.
2. Buyer must fill out a background check form to be kept on-record at the location of purchase affirming:
• They are the actual buyer of the beverage
• They are not under indictment for a felony
• They have not been convicted of a felony
• They are not a fugitive from justice
• They are not unlawful users of illicit substances
• They have not be adjudicated mentally defective
• They have not been dishonorably discharged
• They are not subject to a restraining order
• They have not been convicted of domestic violence
• They have not renounced their U.S. citizenship
• They are not in the United States illegally
• They are not an alien admitted under a non-immigrant visa
• Their state of residence
• Their birthplace
• Identifying information as found on their driver's license
• The type and quantity of alcohol they are buying.
3. Background checks using the Nation Instant Check System (NICS) must be carried out and verified at the time that the vendor transfers the alcohol to the buyer. If NICS needs more time to run the check, the buyer may be required to return within 3 days to pick up his alcohol.
4. Alcohol packaging must not be high capacity - no bulk purchases of alcohol may consist of more than 10 individual drinks, and no person may be in possession of more than 10 alcoholic beverages at any time. 
5. All alcoholic beverage containers must have a serial number that is recorded at the time of sale.
6. Mandatory education and training on the effects of alcoholism and safe drinking practices before issuance of a Alcohol Consumers Identification Card (ACID).
7. Mandatory jail sentences for anyone buying or transferring alcohol without an ACID.
8. Mandatory loss of alcohol privileges for life for anyone who commits a felony. If you're a felon with a drink, you go to jail.
9. Mandatory jail sentences for anyone who transfers alcohol without a background check.
10. Alcohol in a vehicle must be in a locked case and stored out of reach of the driver.
11. Alcohol must be concealed and in a case while in public, and the possessor must have a valid ACID card. 
12. Prohibition on possessing alcohol on Federal property
13. Prohibition on selling alcohol in convenience or grocery stores. Only approved Federal Alcohol Licensees (FAL) may sell alcoholic beverages, subject to a $200 one-time fee for the first three years and a $90 fee every three years thereafter.
14. An outright ban on the new manufacture of all alcoholic beverages above 5% alcohol by volume on the effective date.  "High alcohol content" (HAC) beverages may be grandfathered with the proper tax stamps.
15. Transporting HAC beverages across state lines is prohibited without prior permission of the ATF.
16. HAC beverages made before the effective date may be transferred with a $200 tax stamp and a 6 month waiting period.  
17. Safe storage laws to prevent alcohol from falling into the wrong hands, subject to regular government inspection. 
18. Mandatory liability insurance for anyone who drinks.  
19. Imported alcohol is limited to 3% alcohol by volume.

A reasonable person would have no problem complying with these common sense regulations.  After all, the ATF already controls firearms with many of these regulations, so why not apply them to alcohol, which kills ten times as many people as guns?  Since the precedent has already been set against the more stringent Constitutional right of gun ownership, these measures should meet no legal opposition, since there is no "right to drink" found in the Constitution.  Of course, those who are alcoholics would oppose it, because they unreasonable and firmly against any form of compromise, but like many gun control groups, we believe in standing strong against these extremists who delight in the deaths of children and believe that the only those heartless, morally depraved individuals could oppose this agenda.  Considering the lives saved, any thinking, feeling person would gladly accept the tradeoff of a few minor inconveniences in order to save the lives of many.

We need you to get on board and write to your Congressman today, and tell them you back Common Sense Alcohol Reform. We need to curtail these dangerous freedoms so we can all be safer. Won't you help us?


[1] Colt .45 is a HAC malt liquor beverage. http://colt45beer.com
[2] http://www.barnonedrinks.com/drinks/a/ak47-5913.html 
http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/names/drinks.htm 
http://myfivebest.com/5-mixed-drinks-to-celebrate-ohios-new-gun-in-bars-law/
Many alcoholic beverages are named after firearms or have violent themes. The irresponsible romanticizing of alcoholism must end.
[3] http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm
The CDC estimates that 88,000 are killed in alcohol-related situations per year, more than 8 times the number killed by firearms (approximately 10,000). Deaths from alcohol are an epidemic in the United States.
[4] We don't want to ban alcohol.  Nobody wants to take your beer. But limiting the number of alcoholic beverages one could buy per month wouldn't infringe upon someone's rights to drink, and the Supreme Court has already established that curtailing even basic, Constitutional rights (which drinking is not) is acceptable in the name of public safety (see Sobriety Checkpoints and Justice Kennedy). 
[5] It is unfathomable in a civilized society that anyone can buy alcohol without some sort of vetting, even violent felons who may have originally committed their crimes under the influence of alcohol.  Background checks would break this cycle and reduce recidivism and protect our children.
[6] Drinkers would be more responsible if they knew they were going to be held accountable for each and every drink they purchased.  This way, alcohol would be off the streets and less likely to end up in the hands of children.
[7] No one needs to buy 12, 24, or 36 beverages at once.  Anyone who drinks an excessive amount of alcohol is likely an extremist alcoholic and needs to be carefully controlled in their alcohol purchasing activity. Banning hard liquor would not infringe upon anyone's right to drink.  They could still enjoy beer or malt beverages, or low-alcohol wine. Nobody needs more than 10 alcoholic drinks to host a party.
[8] See [5].  If you commit a crime while under the influence of alcohol, even one of mere possession, then you should be disallowed alcoholic beverages for life.  Zero tolerance. Period. 
[9] 1,4,6,7,9, and 11 are all variations of firearms laws already on the books in certain localities, many of which have been proposed for Federal adoption. 2 is Federal, and a new form must be filled out for every purchase. 3 is Federal, and people who wish to legally purchase firearms are delayed regularly, necessitating a return visit to the vendor. 8 is Federal in that all felons, even non violent felons, are prohibited from possessing guns.  Why let them drink?  5,10,12,13,14,15, and 16 are all variations of Federal laws which apply to any new firearms purchases (HAC is the alcohol equivalent of certain NFA weapons which were banned from new manufacture by the Hughes Amendment in 1986 and require exorbitant taxes and paperwork to change hands or cross state lines). 17 and 18 are laws that have been proposed on state and national levels. 19 has been a Federal law for some time, in that imported guns cannot be sold in the United States if they are in certain configurations (pistol grip, collapsible/folding stock, etc) although domestically produced guns with these same features are perfectly legal (Sec. 922r). In effect, these firearms are "watered down" versions of other guns, just as imported alcohols would be "watered down" versions of real beverages.  The precedent has been set.