Better background checks needed for gun sales

The editorial “Better background checks needed for gun sales” was published in the editorial section of My San Antonio’s news site, written by the San Antonio Express-News Opinion Staff. The intended audience appears to be the general public to create awareness around a failed background check system as it relates to recent killings.

In this article the author argues that a broken background check system is a major cause of several recent shootings, most recent being the killing of 9 parishioners by racist Dylann Roof at a church in South Carolina last month. Roof was a convicted felon, but this was unknown at the time of sale because of bureaucratic error and a flawed background check system. Roof was permitted to purchase the gun while his background check was pending.

We’ve seen misuse of guns over and over again in the mass shootings of Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and the Colorado moviegoer scene. The author argues that while there still are loopholes to get guns, fixing the background check would save many lives – most recently the nine from South Carolina that should still be alive.  

These tragedies happen one after another, and Congress has been unable to improve the system, the author argues, due to gun lobbyists and pushback by gun enthusiasts. “How many shootings have to take place until there is political will to improve something as basic as background checks to help limit the flow of guns to those with criminal records?,” the author questions.

While I personally am not fully informed of the process of obtaining a gun, I completely agree with the author that there needs to be tighter regulations on the selling of guns. People like Roof are exactly who we do not want with a gun in their hand, and yet it was so easy for this felon to obtain one. How is this system not flawed?

As for the many people who do carry guns responsibly, I agree with the author’s point that it would even be beneficial to them to fight in favor of a better federal background check system. "Fewer shootings would mean fewer calls for gun control,” states the author. Many, unfortunately, are too worried about their own right to bear arms. 

By the time I have kids, I hope gun control has tightened up a bit; it is sad that this has to be a worry of parents while their kids are in school. Or, furthermore, while people are at church.