The Secret to Stopping Gun Violence in its Tracks Essay

According to a report by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey, the United States has about 35-50 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns and has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. With no restriction and so much freedom, firearms can be distributed throughout the United States illegally and obtained as easy as buying it from a person, disregarding all gun laws. Implementing stricter background checks can help reduce the amount of crime relating to gun violence. It can also keep firearms away from those who shouldn’t have possession of them.

medical history, or any type of records when buying or owning a gun. Checking records of any sort can prevent a massacre to occur. The proposal of the background checks was passed by congress in 2013. What are background checks and what do the check in the background you might ask. Backgrounds checks are known as “Universal Background Checks”, according to csgv.org, prevents felons or prohibit purchasers to buy guns by checking their medical history, checking their criminal records, or both. They believe that this proposal is will be more effective, because it will prevent any more massacres and still protect the rights of people who want to own

The movement has called for two changes to the current gun law: universal background checks for buyers and ban on the sale of assault-type firearms and large-capacity ammunitions (Szekely, 2018). The system of background checks is meant to ensure that all gun owners have the right capacity to handle firearms. Past incidences have shown that the system was ineffective because the state governments did not submit relevant information to the central database. For example, in one of the recent shooting incidences, the shooter had a known history of mental problems but had been able to purchase an assault rifle and high capacity ammunition. The changes in the background system would make it easier for gun dealers to identify people who are not qualified to own a gun. The restrictions on the sale of assault weapons and ammunition are crucial steps in reducing the number of deaths and injuries in case of a shooting incident. The shooter would not be able to inflict a lot of harm because of inefficiencies of the weapon at disposal.

buying a gun. Already, a background check is required for all individuals who wish to buy a

To reduce the potential of harming another by gun violence, a universal background check with an extensive mental health evaluation should be taken into consideration before allowing somebody to purchase a firearm. Currently, a mental health evaluation would be violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services), but there should be an exception made to this Act that allows the distributor not only the ability to conduct a mental health evaluation and view the results, but also able to review any past evaluations.

As the editorial notes “this measure would help keep guns out of the wrong hands, especially the proliferating handguns that now account for nearly three-quarters of gun deaths,” which underscores the existence of a gun problem

Advances in the procedures such as allowing psychological and mental info to be discernible to the NICS and FBI, retrievable by states, computerized, and updated yearly will provide a feasible and orderly advancement in background checks and the safety of civilians. Gifford’s Law Center asserts that the single largest gap in the federal background check requirement is that unlicensed, private sellers are not required to conduct background checks. This means that, unless state law requires a background check for these sales, convicted felons, domestic abusers, and other ineligible people can legally buy guns—even if they fail a background check when purchasing from a person with a

There were more than 13,267 deaths only by guns between the years of 2015-2017. Under federal law, a background check is required only for gun purchases from licensed dealers. The issue was that people wanted or tried to buy gun from private sellers. Henceforth, doing that some people could not beat the system. Eighteen States have required specific gun restrictions regarding to buying a gun. In the United States, there are many gun shows, which leads customers to buy guns on the low market without going through the final steps on carrying a gun.

The majority of US states don’t have background check requirements for private gun sales or transfer of ownership. In 31 states, people can purchase firearms from unlicensed sellers without undergoing a background check. According to a 2012 study by Injury Prevention of prison inmates convicted of gun crimes in 13 states, 96% of offenders who were legally prohibited from owning a firearm acquired their gun from a supplier who didn’t conduct background checks. According to Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig, the databases utilized in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, have an incomplete coverage. Far too many states fall short on submitting prohibiting mental health and other records. Five states had made fewer than 10 records available and eight states had made fewer than 100 records available as of November 2014, according to FBI data. The failure of states to submit records severely limits the effectiveness of NICS. In a national online survey of 1,613 gun owners, 22% who reported obtaining their most recent firearm within the past two years said they did so without a background check. Additionally, the current background checks do not prohibit stalkers or people with Domestic Violence Restraining Orders (DVROs) from being able to get a gun. The private sales or gun show loophole with the current gun laws

Weapon is a very big problem in the U.S. Nowadays everyone can buy a gun easily and very often guns are falling into hands of people who should not have them. Because of this many innocent people are dying every day. To forbid the sale of guns is not solve the problem, but it should require more strict background checks for at least two reasons; to protect innocent people of being killed, and protect the potential owner of the gun from criminal

We need this because guns lead to unneeded violence and deaths, we have police authority to

In order to reduce violence through firearms, more money and attention needs to be focused on the security of guns themselves. For example, background checks could take a more thorough approach by checking not only the citizen’s criminal record, but also evidence of a mental illness and American citizenship to ensure maximum security. Additionally, follow-up background checks could be recommended to check for any evidence of misuse of the firearm while in the possession of the person. Enforcing an overall more strict and secure system in obtaining firearms is the most likely effective way to address such issues above.

The idea of a background check has been used for guns sales yet there are many issues with the current system that criminals can easily get by. This seemingly fool-proof system can be easily bypassed and has been by a number of infamous killers such as the Columbine shooter “who got around the system by using guns bought at a gun show from an unlicensed seller: no paperwork, no questions asked”( An Updated). Cases like these are

“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” (LaPierre 10). Gun control is a problem throughout the U.S. Most people just want to know they’re safe where they live with good people around them. Nobody should be scared to walk out of their house or go to the store. People should not be disallowed to buy guns for protection. While some people are good gun owners, there should be a whole process in buying guns such as; background checks, home checks, the reason for buying it and why.

A problem has been reoccurring, a problem that seems to have no resolution. The crisis on mass shootings throughout the United States have been repeatedly mentioned in the topic of gun and ammunition restrictions. Due to this, the government proposed whether if background check should be enforced while purchasing ammunition and prohibit the possession of large capacity. This proposal has made many citizens of the United States agitated since it might lead to the ban on all guns, which would violate the second amendment. Although citizens are enraged with the restrictions on guns, the government should require background check because it would gradually decrease the crime rate, strengthen the background check system, and reduce mass shootings.