The sun just pierces over the horizon. A golden shine flows over the marsh and the Chesapeake Bay. My father throws the last duck decoy and it splashes into the dark water. I take a look at my watch and it is 6:45 AM. My father and I slide the shells of ammunition into our shotguns. We sit down, take in the sunrise, and wait. The next Saturday my father, my sister and I step up to the line at the Prince Georges County Trap and Skeet Range. "Pull," I yell and it is followed by a bang and the orange disk obliterates into pieces like a firework on the Fourth of July. I lower thee 16 gauge, double barrel, side by side from my shoulder and my father reminds me that four generations have now fired that same shotgun. 

I was raised around firearms and have the upmost respect for their power and control. They have become a part of my life and a part of my heritage. Our society has come to a time where many have lost or never learned that respect for firearms and have came to abuse the power and control that comes along with a firearm. In this day and age where mass shootings and gun related violence has become all too common of an occurrence. We seem to shrug our shoulders and move on with our lives forgetting about the human beings that have been hurt and affected by this violence. I think that most can agree that something needs to change to ensure safety for everyone in this world, but the debate comes to what should be changed. The current background check system is broken with loopholes that takes away from the safety of our society. These loopholes include the lack of background checks for private sales and gun shows, individuals that have a history of domestic violence passing background checks, and the FBI must record the number of private sales and private background checks happening in this country. 

The Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999 left 12 dead and 24 more injured. This was one of the first mass shootings in America in recent times. More mass shootings followed this event including Virginia tech, Roseburg Oregon, Aura Colorado, and the list goes on. One of the most prominent shootings in recent years was the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. At this shooting 20 kids from ages 6 to 7 and six adults were killed. From 2000 to 2014 there were 166 mass shootings in developed countries around the world and 133 of them took place in the United States (Sanburn). There are about 32,000 annual gun deaths in every district of the country (Zornick). In a speech about gun control Nicole Hockley stated that 289 people are shot every day (Hockley). These statistics show much of a problem mass shootings and gun violence has become in this country and truly speak for themselves. This has sparked the heated debate in our country on gun control and what should be changed to prevent events like Sandy Hook and gun violence as a whole from happening. 

To understand what background checks are like today you must first know where they came from and how gun control developed. In an article by William Vizzard about gun control policy over the years, he describes how the 1900's paved the way for gun control laws in America. The 1930's had several gun control bills passed during its time including a ban on automatic weapons. The country truly moved toward gun control laws after President John F Kennedy was assassinated. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed in an effort to help save lives and regulate guns more. William Vizzard said that it, "remains the primary federal statute governing the possession of, and commerce in, firearms" (Vizzard).  This law and some other small amendments banned certain types of bullets and plastic guns. The next large law towards gun control was the Brady Act. The Brady act required, "a waiting period and criminal records check before a dealer can deliver a handgun to a purchaser, [it] passed both houses of congress and was signed by President Clinton in 1993" (Vizzard). This was the first time background checks were implemented on firearms. 

The National Instant Background Check is a service by the FBI that conducts background checks on individuals to see if they do not have a criminal record so that they can purchase a firearm. According to an article by Jonathan Gatehouse, the National Instant Background Check has, "rejected 1.3 million would-be purchasers since it went into operation in November 1998" (Gatehouse). This service only conducts background checks for purchases through a licensed firearm dealer. Certain states have also expanded their background checks to look for more than the National Instant Background Check does. By doing this they can help to make sure that firearms are in the hands of the right people. 

The way background checks are run currently has shown to have several loopholes that jeopardize the safety of citizens in this country. One of these loopholes is the lack of background checks for private sales of background checks. If someone is buying a firearm from a federally licensed firearm dealer they are required to go through a background check but, "a private party can sell the same firearm  --  or many firearms  --  and none of these federal safeguards will be in place" (Webster). This means that anytime that a person sells a firearm to someone else not through a licensed store no background check is required and rarely done. This, "covers just 60 per cent of all gun sales" (Gatehouse). At a gun show someone can purchase a firearm and no background check is required and again rarely done. Firearm sellers at gun shows do not have to carry out background checks because they are labeled as collectors. If a criminal wants to purchase a firearm, they can find their way around the background checks by purchasing a firearm from an unlicensed dealer. 

Loose regulations for background checks put some individuals at risk of suicide because individuals with lower levels of mental illness are able to purchase a firearm. For example, someone who has depression, but have not had severe treatment would be able to purchase a firearm and pass a background check. People with severe cases of mental illness are restricted from purchasing firearms. In an article from the site Everytown for Gun Safety it is stated that, "there are 48 percent fewer gun suicides in states require background checks for private handgun sales than states that do not" (State Background Check Requirements and Suicide). This shows that lives could be saved if background checks are required by law. There are 18,000 suicides in America every year from guns. These background checks could restrict individuals who have mental illness that could put themselves in danger of committing suicide. This could directly save lives from themselves because it will keep guns out of their hands.

Another loophole in the current background check system is that individuals with a history of domestic violence can pass background checks. A New York Times article states that, "60 percent of women killed with guns were killed by husbands, ex-husbands or boyfriends" (Keep Guns Away From Abusers).  This is an alarming number because these are people who could be saved. People who have a domestic violence restraining order can not purchase a firearm, but individuals who have a misdemeanor domestic violence charge are capable of purchasing a firearm. These people with misdemeanor charges are still capable of hurting or killing their family because they have access to these firearms. The same article states that, "57 percent of shootings in which four or more people were killed, one of the victims was the shooters other or family member" (Keep Guns Away From Abusers). Lives could be saved from these shooters if they are restricted from owning a firearm in the first place. 

One more problem with the current background checks is that the FBI does not provide the right information to the public to see exactly how many background checks are being carried out. An article from Everytown for Gun Safety describes that, "the FBI keeps records of the aggregate numbers of background checks conducted in each state . . . FBI data does not differentiate between background checks conducted for private sales and those conducted for dealer sales" (Beyond Gridlock). If the FBI did publish this data, researchers could better understand the amount of people conducting private sales and how many background checks are happening both ways of purchasing a firearm. This would also help law enforcement and government at the state level work on regulating background checks. To help stop the private sales of firearms they must know how many private sales are being carried out and how many have or don't have background checks. They can use these numbers to control private sales more than they do now and help close that loophole in the system. 

There are people who do not believe that background checks will help make our country a safer place and reduce gun violence. Some think that it costs too much money to carry out background checks and they do not even stop many criminals. Richard Mack, a sheriff from Arizona, said that, "background checks cost a half a million dollars and resulted in two arrests. Nationwide, out of 250,000 felons and fugitives prevented from gaining access to handguns . . . only seven were prosecuted and four went to jail" (Richey). Richard Mack was strongly against the Brady Bill for this reason. He feels that it wastes his time and the governments money to have to worry about background checks. He found that it did not stop many criminals from getting their hands on firearms and did not result in many arrests. This is an interesting point of view because it is coming from law enforcement who should be supporting and carrying out the law. If the law enforcement does not support it why should the rest of the United States, feel obligated to support this bill for background checks? Richard also described the Brady Bill as, "ludicrous to waste this much time and money on this type of Washington D.C., feel-good legislation" (Richey). Richard Mack is describing this bill as something that Washington D.C. does not understand what it really does and how it will work on a state level. He thinks that the Brady Bill was just put through so that Washington D.C. can feel good about doing something to try to help stop gun violence. 

Another simple reason why some are against background checks comes from firearm sellers at gun shows. These individuals do not want to have to worry about background checks because it would make selling their guns more complicated. The part that most people like about buying guns at gun shows is how it is a simple transaction. You find the gun that you want you hand them the money and they hand you the gun. These sellers are listed as collectors so they are not federally licensed and therefore as of now do not need to do background checks. If they were forced to do background checks for every sale they would have to spend more time on each sale and that causes more effort than they want to do. They just want to get their money, give their gun to the buyer, and go on with their day and their lives. The sellers believe that this simple transaction is what keeps them in business and makes them do so well. 

I think that strengthening background checks can help make our country a little safer of place for each and every one of us. Creating background checks for private sales is something that I think can help close down on illegal transactions where people with a criminal history or a history of domestic violence are able to purchase firearms. Also making it so background checks will reject people who have even misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence is something that will save lives. I do believe that there should be a way to appeal a rejected background checks. There are people in this country that may have done something in the past that would make them be rejected on a background check, but have since cleaned up and became law abiding citizen. There should be a system where you can interview and pay a certain fee to prove your case so that you can clear a rejected background check. It would be a deeper background check than the normal one that everyone goes through to make sure that these people are safe to own and use a firearm. The individual who was rejected by the background check would have to make the effort themselves to file for the more extensive background check. By this I mean that the more extensive background check would not be done for every person who is rejected from purchasing a firearm. This system of appealing a rejected background will give people who have became a better person than when they committed the crime the opportunity to enjoy and purchase firearms.

Although background checks will help slow down gun violence, it can not eradicate all gun violence. Gun control and gun violence is a complex and large issue that has more issues involved than just background checks. As much as you strengthen background checks criminals will still find ways to purchase firearms through private sales that the government has no way of knowing happened. Background checks can make it harder for criminals to purchase a firearm legally, but some will still get their hands on firearms. Strengthening background checks will save some lives and every life matters. I personally believe that the best way to help minimize or stop gun violence in the future is to educate the public on firearms. As I talked about before I grew up around firearms and have respect and understanding for what they can do. From the first day I picked up a gun I was taught about safety when using it and even when just holding it. This has made me comfortable around guns. When I see another person with a firearm I immediately asses the situation and observe how they are handling it so that I can tell if I am safe around this person or not. I think teaching this way of observing and respect for firearms can help bring down gun violence in the future. If people are taught how to read a person and observe what they are doing, they can learn how to avoid violence and stop someone if it seems like they will cause harm. If they are also taught how to handle a firearm and how to respect one, then that could help someone down the road know not to abuse the power of a firearm and respect its capabilities.

This program of teaching people about firearms would be very difficult to pass and to implicate. The way this firearm education could be carried out would be having people come into schools and have presentations about the topic. Periodically throughout schooling these people could give presentations about firearm safety. Teaching this throughout schooling could give individuals a different perspective about firearms and be more comfortable and safe around them. They could also teach in these presentations how to profile if someone could be a risk and learn who to notify to help protect themselves and everyone else. Making this a nationwide movement would ideally change how our society is and make this world a safer place from gun violence. 

 In the short term I believe that strengthening background checks will help bring down the number of firearms in the hands of criminals. Creating a system to appeal background checks will help more people purchase firearms legally and allow changed people to enjoy what can come with owning a firearm. But, to truly move this country to a place where constant mass shootings and gun violence can be minimized is to educate people. Citizens need to be educated to respect firearms and how to tell if someone could be a risk to their safety. All of this takes motivation from the people who care and the government. We need to stop the common shooting and change our society to protect every life as much as we can. 

