According to the FBI, an event is considered a mass shooting if four or more people are killed due to gun violence.
In the past decade there has been a number of mass shooting all across the United States, the most recent being in Las Vegas, Nev. Of course, this has brought the debate on gun control to the surface. There are many conspiracies on why it happened, how it happened and what caused it to happen.
There are a lot of reasons for someone to carry out this kind of violent crime. The most common reasons that comes to mind are mental illnesses and bullying. According to a research by the National Institution of Health, the most common myth about mass shootings is that they are caused by mental illnesses, diagnosed or not.
Did you know that almost anyone can walk into Fred Meyer and purchase a gun? Of course, they would have to have a concealed weapons permit and need to meet a list of other requirements, but that list is not as long as I think it should be. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute studies show that there are approximately 113 guns for every 100 people, and one in three homes with children have at least one gun. Having a gun in the household does not provide an argumentative reason for why mass shootings happen.
I think someone should only be able to pass a background check if they have little to no charges. If they are a convicted felon, I do not think they should be allowed to legally own or purchase a gun. The United States’ Federal law states that someone with a felony on their record can legally own a gun, but not possess the gun. In most states, a convicted felon has the legal right to restore their gun-owning privileges.
The only issue that I can see happening if people were not allowed to purchase guns due to their criminal history would be the black market. There are quite a few ways one could get ahold of a gun and the black market has a big role in the gun industry. The more weapon laws there are, the more weaponry is distributed illegally through the deep web and underground businesses. All someone would have to do is know the right people and the right places to look.
Making a background check for purchasing a gun stricter and harder to pass will make it harder for someone to obtain a weapon. If they had a criminal record with a felony, they would have to resort to going underground for a gun, breaking even more laws.
With the black market a constant factor, there is still not a solid way to prevent anyone from getting ahold of a gun.
There is no actual way to prevent laws from being broken, criminal acts are unavoidable. Yes, police can enforce the laws and they can arrest people committing crimes but the best way to put limitations on gun accessibility is making it harder for people to legally purchase them. Background checks need to be stricter when purchasing assault weapons.