Argumentative Essay: The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

As the government became more involved with tracking these guns they began to run into trouble with people not registering their weapons that fit the guidelines of a firearm that needed to be registered. So the NFA realized that changes needed to be made and it stated that gun owners who already owned the weapon did not have to have it registered. Its main objective was to prohibit interstate traffic in firearms and ammunition, it also denied guns to specific classes of individuals such as felons, minors, fugitives, drug addicts and the mentally ill. Despite all these provisions the law was not one hundred percent effective when came down to the specifics, as criminals were still able to find a way to retrieve firearms. This leading to

the fact that any law that might be put in place for the greater good is going to have its weak points and some people are just going to flat out ignore rules and regulations.
Despite their efforts to avoid guns sales to these specific classification of individuals, a John Hinckley Jr acquired a revolver by use of false identification.

So the GCA had little effect of the events that were about to come. Hinckley’s gun purchase led to the attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan, Reagan was injured along with James Brady. Leaving James Brady partially paralyzed, which gave Brady the direction to pursuit to trying to pass a new law that would require thorough background checks on all firearm purchases. In 1993, The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was signed by President Bill Clinton, its main focus was that of which a purchaser that buys a firearm from a federally licensed deal must pass the check to try to avoid selling to incapable purchaser. All these different act are very important in the United States to keep everyone somewhat “legal” and encourage the law abiding citizens the opportunity to acquire a firearm within the rules and regulations.The fact is that very few federal laws regulate the manufacture, sale or possession of firearms, and those currently on the books are filled with loopholes or significantly tie the hands of law enforcement. The Brady Act, for example, which requires licensed firearms dealers to perform background checks on gun purchasers, does not apply to private sellers, responsible for an estimated forty percent of all gun sales. Because of this “private sale” loophole, convicted felons and other prohibited

persons are able to buy guns easily from unlicensed sellers in undocumented transactions. (Watkins 2012)
This is very interesting considering there are laws put in place to try to avoid these types of things from happening. Somehow we can work the system and get away with it and just call it a loophole. It amazing how a collector of weapons or someone who just sells a gun from time to time, will not be required by federal law to have a license to be able to sell a firearm. Gun shows are considered to be part of the loophole category, given that the large number of collectors do not require the buyer to pass a background check. Gun shows are very popular for both the legal buyers and also for criminals for the fact that there is a wide selection of vendors, those that require a background check and the ones that do not.
Experts estimate that over six million guns a year—perhaps forty percent of all sales are made by unlicensed private dealers not subject to the law (Watkins 2012). The National Instant Criminal background check system was launched in 1998, this required that non- licensed seller would become more involved in their sale and make sure that their firearms are being bought by someone who has already gone through a background check. Strick regulations helps the country with lowering the death rate from incidents that occur with a firearm. Although it will not completely deter felons from locating and possessing a firearm it will for sure help with making it that much more difficult to get. Unfortunately, if there is a will there will be a way.