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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Mayor of West Lafayette says the logic behind a gun control resolution passed by he and city leaders is sound.

West Lafayette city leaders passed a non-binding resolution, meaning it does not change any standing ordinance or law, which urges state lawmakers to pass legislation clamping down on loop-holes in the second amendment.

Primarily, the resolution is asking for a bill to better regulate private sales of guns between close friends and neighbors. That would mean additional background checks, similar to those conducted when you buy a gun from a licensed gun store.

“In this particular resolution we have gotten a lot of challenges from folks who have misinterpreted the intent,” said Mayor John Dennis. “What we are trying to do with this resolution is to encourage our legislators to be aware, not so much of the legal processes and not trying to inhibit those who are qualified to have a gun. We’re just trying to make sure that some of those qualifications will highlight some of those areas that we now know are some of the pit falls of gun ownership.”

“These are feel good resolutions based on misguided beliefs,” Indiana State Director of the National Rifle Association Chris Kopacki responded. “Really they’re just wasting a lot of time and tax payer dollars. The laws are tight enough as it is. How do criminals get possession of firearms? They get them from the black market [or&#93 steal them. All this does is make it tougher for law-abiding citizens to legally purchase a firearm”

In fact, Kopacki said more gun control laws, such as the one that Mayor Dennis is pushing for, would make it easier for criminals to illegally obtain firearms. 

“I don’t know how that could be true, because that doesn’t address the specifics of purchasing a weapon,” Dennis responded. “At this juncture in our history there is a perfect storm of access and availability to weaponry and then some areas that are gray or don’t even exist insofar as making sure the right people have access to guns.”

Dennis said “you can get a gun easier than you can go to the dentist’s office”, and that that is an unfortunate reality that needs to be addressed through legislation from either the state or the federal level.

(PHOTO: Robert Alexander/ Getty Images)