By comparison, H.R. 8, by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), proposes to require a background check on transfers of firearms between non-dealers more generally, including merely handing a firearm to someone in many circumstances, including some circumstances related to self-defense. It also prohibits young adults from acquiring handguns and contains many other onerous provisions.

President Trump may reject Barr’s “idea” because it would move Democrats closer to their goal of transforming the background check system into a gun registry, while Democrats may reject it because it wouldn’t move them there fast enough. In any case, instead of expanding the background check system, we should be working to get to the point at which the federal and state governments will be less certain, not more certain, who owns guns and which guns they own, thus less able to confiscate them.

As long as there is a background check system for gun purchases, Democrats will try to transform it into a firearm registry that can be used to enforce gun confiscation, which, in the case of semi-automatic rifles like the ubiquitous AR-15, five of the 10 leading Democrat presidential candidates publicly advocate. In fact, Democrats have been trying to transform the background check system into a gun registry since before the system was established.