GUN CONTROL DEBATE: What can we agree on?
BACKGROUND CHECKS: I
would think we can all agree on having a database that gun dealers need to
access before selling a gun to an individual but a data base is only as good as
the info put into that database.
First, a background check must be mandated on all gun sales
and that includes sales made at “gun shows” which in the past did not require
background checks. Yes, if you are a licensed gun dealer, you must do a
background check but many “sellers” at gun shows are not “licensed” and
therefore are not obligated to perform background checks.
The FBI provides the data used in background checks which consists
of available criminal records of individuals that are recorded as having
committed a criminal act.
BUT now, since we know that many mass murders have been committed
by mentally impaired individuals, we now are looking to include mental health
data on individuals that mental health professionals have deemed potentially
dangerous?
Well this could be a “slippery slope” and a huge invasion of
privacy issue if not managed properly. The movie theater shooter in Aurora,
Colorado pleaded with his psychiatrist for help and the psychiatrist knew he
was a danger to others as he told her he wanted to kill a lot of people; she
contacted the police with her concerns but did not authorize the police to
detain and hold him for observation, which she had the power to do.
Background checks would not have worked in the Newtown massacre
since the mother of the idiot that did the killing bought him guns and urged
him to learn how to use them knowing full well that he had a screw loose; she
paid the ultimate price for her motherly stupidity as did many innocent
children.
Background checks will not solve our problems but they may
help in preventing some of them especially when we expand the database to
include individuals with severe mental problems.
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