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Terrance Wallace

3A

Brady Bill and Gun Laws

Introduced in February of 1993, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 was signed
to require Federal Firearms Licenses to request background checks on handgun purchases. The National
Instant Criminal Background Check System would be contacted by telephone, or by any other
electronics, to determine whether the transfer of a firearm would violate Section 922 of Title 18, US
Code, or state law. The law has been enforced in 32 states in early 1994.

Before the law was made, in 1981, James Brady, a former Assistant to the President of the
White House under Ronald Reagan, was shot in an attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. He would
become permanently disabled after the gunshot and start supporting gun control. The shooter, john
Hinckley, lied about his address when he bought the firearm, which a background check would have
caught. This was when it was decided that background checks would be enforced to prevent firearms
from going into the wrong hands.

Ronald Regan was in full support for gun control despite the shootings not being calls for such,
however.

While the Brady Act was in effect, 18 states including the District of Columbia sufficiently
stringent regulations in place and were granted exemptions from the new requirements. The law mainly
concerned those with felonies, mental illness, and other characteristics of that person that blocked
them from buying handguns as they were large in number. Although, it didnt explain how much it
prevented gunshot injuries.

Eventually, some citizens claimed the passing of the Brady Bill was a failure of the political
process. The reason for that was because of it being against the 2
nd
Amendment of Americans having
the rights to bear arms. Congress wasnt allowed to use state resources and it allowed people on the
opposition to have a foothold against the bill. It also negatively affected the firearm business. Missing
records were not covered due to the program still in development with many unnecessary background
checks. However, what it did succeed in was stopping around 1.9 million people from buying weapons
and caused crime rate to decrease. Although, as for homicide and suicide rate for gun violence, had little
to no effect. According to researches and studies, adults are more prone to suicide, but less likely to
own guns. Other than that, no direct evidence of the impact on interstate firearms trafficking was
nowhere to be found.

Another impact the law had was having limited control over gun laws. During the days, people
had to wait ten days before receiving a firearm as background checks were performed on anyone
purchasing one. Since the law itself was still not 100%, itd sometimes take longer for background
checks.

As of recent years since 2009, over 107 million Brady background checks were conducted. At
least 1.9 million attempted firearm purchases were blocked by the system. Prosecution and conviction
of violators of the Brady Act was is extremely rare as only seven individuals were convicted. In the first
year of the act, only 217 out of 250 cases were referred for prosecution and were rejected.

On another side that could involve the Brady Act, in 2013, a plan to extend background checks
failed its 60-vote threshold. Only 56 senators voted yes on the Brady Bill while 46 were against it;
however, the President did sign 25 executive actions related to gun-violence prevention. In December of
2013, studies were observed since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting; 71 children were killed
by gun violence. Later, 1,500 state gun bills were proposed with 109 of them becoming laws, and 70 of
them loosened existing gun legislation. As of January 30, 2014, 55 percent of Americans were
dissatisfied with the existing gun policy. Firearm regulations, gun laws, and gun violence, today, have
been a complication for resolution whether things need to be changed or kept the same.

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