Gun Control Legislation
Gun Control Legislation: Background Checks and Public Policy.
Gun control legislation is a very controversial topic and one that has taken a lot of attention in both academic and public policy circles here in the United States for the past 20 or 30 years. One of the most powerful tools which people have discovered for dealing with the issue of controlling who should or shouldn’t have access to guns is through the creation of background checks. The purpose of background checks in a general sense is to allow for gun sellers and overseeing authorities to make sure that they are selling weapons to only those individuals who should be allowed to possess them. The main purpose of these background checks is to ensure that criminals, ex-convicts, …show more content…
The aim of gun control legislation should be to deal with the problem of illegal gun traffic and to find methods to curb it. (Aborn, 1994, p.433) The way in which criminals exploited the weaknesses in the old system was by going to “jurisdictions with very weak or nonexistent gun control laws.” Then they proceed to “purchase handguns in bulk, using either straw purchasers or phony identification, and transport the weapons and ammunition to jurisdictions with very strict gun control laws.” (Aborn, 1994, p.433) The problem was that no legislation prevented this by requiring licensing of handguns purchase, the registration of sales or there should be any kind of statutory limit on the amount of firearms or ammunitions being sold at any one time or the resale of these items. (Aborn, 1994, p.433) The Brady Bill was created in part to deal with these …show more content…
It was a positive step towards creating a regulatory and legislative environment which at least allows for the passage of even stricter gun control legislation. Supporters of greater gun control have argued according to Chemerinsky (2004) for laws limiting ownership of guns by those subject to restraining orders in domestic relations cases, and a ban on assault weapons. Proposals for further control of guns include: universal background checks; a national registry for guns; more limits on the ability of those with a history of mental illness or violence to have guns; greater restrictions on particular types of guns and ammunition that are likely to cause grave harms; and more liability for gun manufacturers in civil cases. (pp.483-84)
These proposals for even stricter gun control than the ones implemented by the Brady Bill are all very much on the wish list for liberal politicians and advocacy groups that would like to bring about more gun control. These goals are admirable but there seem to be incredibly large roadblocks to actually having any of these measures implemented especially when there are much larger issues to deal with namely the quite sizable gun show
Gun control legislation is a very controversial topic and one that has taken a lot of attention in both academic and public policy circles here in the United States for the past 20 or 30 years. One of the most powerful tools which people have discovered for dealing with the issue of controlling who should or shouldn’t have access to guns is through the creation of background checks. The purpose of background checks in a general sense is to allow for gun sellers and overseeing authorities to make sure that they are selling weapons to only those individuals who should be allowed to possess them. The main purpose of these background checks is to ensure that criminals, ex-convicts, …show more content…
The aim of gun control legislation should be to deal with the problem of illegal gun traffic and to find methods to curb it. (Aborn, 1994, p.433) The way in which criminals exploited the weaknesses in the old system was by going to “jurisdictions with very weak or nonexistent gun control laws.” Then they proceed to “purchase handguns in bulk, using either straw purchasers or phony identification, and transport the weapons and ammunition to jurisdictions with very strict gun control laws.” (Aborn, 1994, p.433) The problem was that no legislation prevented this by requiring licensing of handguns purchase, the registration of sales or there should be any kind of statutory limit on the amount of firearms or ammunitions being sold at any one time or the resale of these items. (Aborn, 1994, p.433) The Brady Bill was created in part to deal with these …show more content…
It was a positive step towards creating a regulatory and legislative environment which at least allows for the passage of even stricter gun control legislation. Supporters of greater gun control have argued according to Chemerinsky (2004) for laws limiting ownership of guns by those subject to restraining orders in domestic relations cases, and a ban on assault weapons. Proposals for further control of guns include: universal background checks; a national registry for guns; more limits on the ability of those with a history of mental illness or violence to have guns; greater restrictions on particular types of guns and ammunition that are likely to cause grave harms; and more liability for gun manufacturers in civil cases. (pp.483-84)
These proposals for even stricter gun control than the ones implemented by the Brady Bill are all very much on the wish list for liberal politicians and advocacy groups that would like to bring about more gun control. These goals are admirable but there seem to be incredibly large roadblocks to actually having any of these measures implemented especially when there are much larger issues to deal with namely the quite sizable gun show