Liberal Forum

Vegasgiants » 21 Apr 2021, 5:35 pm » wrote: ↑

21 Apr 2021, 5:35 pm

On March 16, 2021, eight people were shot to death at three massage parlors in the Atlanta area. This horrific attack comes as the latest symptom of America’s gun epidemic. A mass shooting is defined by the FBI as an incident involving multiple victims of gun violence, and these specific types of tragedies often bring the conversation on gun control back up to the national stage. Nationally, mass shootings hit record highs, jumping nearly 50 percent during the Covid-19 pandemic with 95 reported incidents in June 2020 alone.

Most Democratic politicians support universal background checks, like in their new bill, H.R.8, that has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would require background checks for all gun buyers, and extend the time the FBI has to veto those flagged by the national instant check system. This bill accomplishes the popular proposal of universal background checks but doesn’t check all the boxes. Expanding the current background check system to be required in all gun sales sounds like the right solution, but wouldn’t necessarily decrease the number of gun sales to dangerous people. H.R. 8 is co-sponsored by at least three House Republicans, but the vote was pretty split down the partisan line and is unlikely to pass in the Senate with Republican support.

At the moment, background checks are only required at licensed gun stores, meaning that a buyer at a gun show or private sale would not have to undergo a background check. Universal background checks would mean that anyone who wanted to purchase a firearm, no matter where, would have to do a background check.