You’d think mandating background checks on people who buy guns would not even hint at controversy. Rational people would agree that you don’t give criminals or mentally unstable people unfettered access to weapons that can harm others or even themselves.
Now, a new study on the impact of Missouri’s repeal of its 2007 background check law is proving what many could only guess at—a 16 percent increase in Missouri’s murder rate.
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The research, conducted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, found an additional 55 to 63 murders per year between 2008 and 2012. “The analyses controlled for changes in policing, incarceration, burglaries, unemployment, poverty, and other state laws adopted during the study period that could affect violent crime,” according to the report.
Here’s the conundrum: If you’re a federally licensed firearms seller, buyers must pass a criminal background check. But, not all sellers are licensed. In fact, at the big gun shows throughout the country, many dealers are freelancers with no credentials logged in any state or federal system. In those cases, states can exempt the federal regulations—that’s 35 of the 50 states in union.
This has happened despite the fact that 77 percent of Americans and even 59 percent of gun owners support mandating background checks for all gun sales, according to a 2013 survey from Johns Hopkins.
Controlling gun access and acquisition in the U.S. is an emotional and political issue—two barriers that when combined create a wall stronger than titanium. Add to that the economic factor. Gun manufacturers are making out like, well, bandits, and the lobbyists that support them, including the NRA, are paying big bucks to lawmakers who will vote against any and all gun control measures.
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The results of non-control are obvious—from school shootings Philadelphia, Indiana, and of course, Newtown, CT, to the man who shot and killed someone in a car for playing loud music because he claims the guy had a gun.
In an effort to circumvent the Republicans and Democrats in Congress who have not been able to pass any of the president’s gun control legislation, Obama is taking steps to circumvent Congress through the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services. The two initiatives involve creating a database of those suffering from mental illness, which would disqualify them from acquiring a gun.
The controversy over NSA surveillance of phone data doesn’t help this initiative, and privacy advocates are pushing back hard. But given a choice between putting a gun in the hand of a deranged person bent on killing kids in a school or compromising someone’s privacy, I suspect the society would choose the latter.
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