Instigator / Pro
22
1473
rating
4
debates
25.0%
won
Topic
#19

Resolved: The US should require a Universal Background Check for all Gun Sales and Transfers of Ownership

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Better arguments
6
6
Better sources
8
8
Better legibility
4
4
Better conduct
4
4

After 4 votes and with the same amount of points on both sides...

It's a tie!
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
3
Time for argument
Two days
Max argument characters
30,000
Voting period
Two weeks
Point system
Multiple criterions
Voting system
Open
Contender / Con
22
1485
rating
91
debates
46.15%
won
Description

Definitions of the resolution and terms of debate:

Universal Background Check- Any system that would require a background check be performed, under threat of fine and/or imprisonment, upon purchase of, or transfer of ownership of, a gun.

For example, the NICS system for FFL sales, but expanded to include and any all sale or non-sale "transfers of ownership."

It is also pertinent to note that *require* in the resolution relates to the *under threat of fine and/or imprisonment* aspect of the definition of UBC.

Also that *The US* in the debate resolution implies adherance to the framework laid out by the founding documents and subsequent legislation/legal rulings of the United States. This isnt a debate on the validity of the framework itself, it is a debate on whether that framework and system would permit the implementation of a federally mandated universal background check for any and all transfers of ownership. As well as a debate upon the harms/benefits of any such implementation.

Gun Sales- The sale or exchange, and necessary "transfer of ownership" that entails, of a gun between one party and another.

Transfer of Ownership- The exchange of ownership between one party(individual, group, or business) and another party through sale or gift(voluntarily giving).

Non-voluntary transfers of ownership are not to be included as non voluntary transfer of ownership is theft. And the legal expectation of a person performing a background check in the midst of a theft is facially absurd. Also, that transfers of possession, such as lending, leasing, etc. As those transfers automatically imply that the possession of the object in question will be at some point, returned back to the *owners* possession.

This debate pertains to a UBC and not any other form of gun control, unless it be directly related to implementation of a UBC. Extensive policy planning should be viewed as grounds for disqualification. General advocacy plans are of course permissible, but should be kept relevant to the resolution.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

Note: "Con" refers to Buddamoose and "Pro" refers to Virtuoso.

The main offense from Pro is crime reductions, with evidence of gun-related homicides decreasing. Con attempts to mitigate this by saying it doesn't tackle mental health issues and that illegal guns will continue to exist, both of which are compelling, but don't mitigate the offense 100%, since clearly Pro proves there'll still be *some* people filtered out and -- despite the lack of an analytical warrant -- provides the NPR evidence showing crime reductions, which Con drops. So, while this is a poorly explained argument and Con points out the solvency issues, I'm forced to buy it because the solvency issues are mitigation and the empirical evidence stands.

Con's arguments on constitutional law are taken down for me by one sentence in the Pro case: "I strongly believe that there's enough evidence that the United States should amend the constitution to make such a law constitutional." I buy that Pro has the fiat to implement this plan and Con never explains why constitutional law is intrinsically valuable. Nonetheless, embedded within the constitutional law arguments are some disadvantages -- the argument on the right to privacy stands, at the end, because I buy that person-to-person transactions require a gun registry. Similarly, I buy that this hurts the ability of low-income people to access guns. However, Con never warrants the importance of privacy/equality in this context, and, prima facie, the magnitude of preventing gun homicides seems to outweigh; moreover, Con concedes that saving lives is important by omission (while Pro doesn't concede that constitutional law is important).

Thus, I vote Pro.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

I believe Pro/Budda won this debate by a slim margin. My main issue was that Con appears (to me) to have relied mostly on the self-evident nature of his presented quotes to disprove Pro's stance. I feel that more effort should have been made linking the information presented to an actual refutation of Pro's position. As it is, Pro's position was more fleshed out, addressing more aspects of the debate than Con.

In the beginning, Con alleged that in the event of unconstitutionality, an amendment should be proposed, but did not follow up on this line of thought when confronted with constitutionality issues. If they had, then the debate might have turned out differently. As it is, the primary focus was on the constitutionality of the proposal, and Pro did a better job of supporting their side of the argument.

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

This debate is titled to ask whether the US should or should not require a Universal Background Check for all firearm transactions, but a vast majority of arguments were instead focused on the legality of UBC's rather than their potential effectiveness or ineffectiveness. The contender side offers a brief argument about why UBC's can be useful and beneficial, which the pro side does not really respond to (makes an argument about the bureaucratical requirements of having a UBC) , and then the debate shifts purely to a debate about legality rather than the actual benefits of a UBC system. Both sides tied the main legality argument in my opinion, with evidence of UBC's conflicting with and fitting within the law. What should have been the main focus of the debate was somewhat uncontested after it was introduced by pro, so for that reason I give argument points to the con side by a nose, and leave the rest of the criteria tied. Pretty good debate!

Criterion
Pro
Tie
Con
Points
Better arguments
3 point(s)
Better sources
2 point(s)
Better legibility
1 point(s)
Better conduct
1 point(s)
Reason:

RFD in comments (character count)