Gun rights enthusiasts continue to say it is just a few bad apples we need to deal with mass shootings, yet they oppose the simplest strategy to identify bad apples— the Universal Background Check. Would it depress the gun industry to force examination of every application to own a gun? Who really is inconvenienced? Not ordinary gun owners without a felony record or a mental health history. Their applications will zip through, while the applicant with the mental health history will be scrutinized. Yes, a potential customer may be screened or invalidated, but those are the “bad apples,” aren’t they? Don’t we want to lose their business?

What is this thing called “Universal Background Checks”?

Universal background checks would require most private purchases to run through the same background check process required for licensed dealers. Private transactions at gun shows or through websites like Armslist would still be possible, but more complicated. Citizens could still buy and sell guns, but they would likely have to transfer the weapon to a licensed dealer to run a background check before completing the transaction. Most universal background check proposals include exemptions for transferring guns between family members, and for borrowing guns. https://gunsandamerica.org/story/19/01/08/what-are-universal-background-checks-here-is-a-breakdown/

So the only inconvenience falls upon the gun seller who must process the background check. The background check compels the seller to see if the gun buyer is really qualified to own a gun.  In other words, to screen out the bad apples. Isn’t that what gun rights politicians declare we need to to do?

It is time to call their bluff. Before the midterm elections, a vote should be taken in the U.S. Senate and every state legislative body that would require a background check on every gun sold in the United States. Every politician running for state or national office should go on record for supporting or opposing Universal Background Checks. That will be the wedge issue for the 2022 midterm elections. Did you or did you not vote for Universal Background Checks?

And no one should listen to the argument that this legislation is not enough. It is only the bare minimum, but it is a beginning. It can be a single step, followed by limiting semi-automatic gun purchases and enhanced mental health legislation.  There is much work to be done, but it begins with separating the sheep from the goats.

Americans have shown their support of this idea in non-partisan polling; let them vote for candidates that support it. Voters often do not turn out for the midterms, because nothing important seems to be on the ballot. If Universal Background Checks were touted with the importance it deserves, then voters might be urged to the polls.  This is literally a life or death issue! Registration, not confiscation!

One year from now we should not be crying alarm about the number of mass shootings compared with the number of days in the year. We should have elected leaders who are ready to vote for life, not death. We should be uniting as a nation to address the mass shooting crisis and stop playing political and economic games with peoples’ lives.