President Trump Expresses Interest in Background Check Bill

trump background check
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 15: President Donald Trump departs after delivering a statement on the mass shooting at a South Florida High School from the in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Admittedly, I’m always a bit hesitant at whatever “common sense” gun-control regulations liberals propose, because they often have the intent of calming their own fears and not actually reducing gun violence.

Take the case of “assault weapons,” which comes center stage after the latest mass public shooting, as they’re often the killer’s weapon of choice (but not always, such as at Virginia Tech). The only difference between an “assault rifle” and a regular rifle is the outward appearance of the gun. Mechanically, the two operate identically.

Other basic misunderstandings of firearms are common among liberals – hence why you often hear them describing “semi-automatic” weapons as if they were fully-automatic weapons.

But why target “scary” guns when they kill the least amount of people? If liberals actually wanted to reduce gun violence, they would target handguns.

Do they think that one life lost in a mass public shooting with an assault weapon counts as a dozen lives killed by handguns? I can’t think of any other way to reconcile their priorities.

The only regulation I’m hearing being proposed is one we can all agree on: expanding background checks and patching up any holes in the system. We already have a system of background checks, so why not strengthen it?

As Red State reported,

Since November, John Cornyn (R-Tx.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have been working on a bill that is supposed to strengthen the background check system for gun purchases in the United States.

With the recent Parkland school shooting, talks of gun control and background checks are at an all-time high (again), putting the bi-partisan bill back in the spotlight – enough of a spotlight that President Donald Trump is showing some interest.

Granted, the specifics count, and you should be hyper skeptical of any bipartisan legislation, especially when it comes to gun control.

The bill is narrow in its focus, reiterating and reinforcing the requirement that federal agencies report all infractions to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), and creating financial incentives for states to do so as well.

The deficiencies of the NICS database have come into sharp focus since it was revealed that a 2014 domestic violence conviction should have prevented the shooter in this month’s fatal attack on a church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., from buying a firearm. But the Air Force never reported the conviction to the background-check system.

The problem isn’t confined to the military: The NICS database is missing millions of such records, according to an estimate by the National Rifle Association, citing a 2013 report from the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics that found “at least 25% of felony convictions . . . are not available.”

Even if this bill is passed and does succeed in reducing the number of firearm homicides, don’t think for a second that it’ll end calls for gun control.

We live in a country of 320+ million, and probably have more guns in circulation than people. So long as there’s one gun-related tragedy every year, we’ll hear more calls for gun control.

That isn’t to say that certain regulations are a good idea, just don’t be fooled into thinking they’re all the Left really wants.

Do you agree with President Trump? Should the background check system be strengthened? Tell us your thoughts below!

By Matt

Matt is the co-founder of Unbiased America and a freelance writer specializing in economics and politics. He’s been published... More about Matt