Parker1

Jacob Parker

Professor Stalbird

English II

17 March 2019

Online Casebook

My research essay will answer why extreme background checks are needed in order to

buy any firearm to reduce the chance of shootings in America. In our society today, many deaths

have been caused by firearms simply because it is so easy to purchase a weapon. I will be giving

different opinions and research by other authors and articles that explain the process of

background checks and why, or why not they are so important in the process of gun control.

What I want to learn in the process of making this essay is how background checks are important

and I want to see other opinions on background checks as well. If we have background checks in

the U.S. today, then why is it still so easy to purchase firearms? Would more strict background

checks avert the problem of firearm deaths in our society today?

“Do Universal Gun Background Checks Reduce Shootings?” The Trace, The Trace, 11 Jan.

2019, www.thetrace.org/2019/01/universal-background-checks-reduce-gun-violence-

research/

This article made by the popular news website, “The Trace” states that across the country

ever since the Parkland, Florida shooting that more and more people have been wanting

increased and more strict background checks. This article states that as of right now the evidence
 Parker2

of how effective the increased background checks would work is very tight. The article uses

quotes by Phillip Cook, who is a well-known policy expert who works at Duke University. Cook

believes that it would take a very long time to change how ‘Americans do things and changing

background checks is a big step. The article states that the, “unregulated gun market” causes

increase on crime and gun violence. This article also uses evidence and studies to determine that

criminals who have been denied in purchasing a fire arm have a lower chance of getting arrested

again. The article states that it will be very hard to change how Americans do things, but

increased background checks will have a good effect in the fight for gun control.

This source is very helpful in assisting me in writing my essay. This is because it includes

many different opinions and ways of looking at the situation on why to increase background

checks. This article provides me actual evidence on why increased background would work.

Also, it includes other views and reasons why it would be very hard to change something so big

like background checks in our society. There is evidence given that is very helpful and this

source really does not compare to any other source in my list because this source lists so many

facts and studies to support both sides of the question.

I could uses this source in my essay to support the fact that increased background checks

would work for the greater good. I can also include some doubt and opinions on why it would be

very hard for the process to really kick in and start doing its job as a counterargument, or other

opinion on the subject.

 Parker3

Pagliery, Jose. “Flaws in Gun Background Check System Cost Lives - CNN Video.” CNN, Cable

News Network, 12 Feb. 2018, www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/02/12/gun-background-

checks-explainer-orig.cnn

Jose Pagliery, who is a worker for CNN made this video to explain what background

checks ask you and the process of how background checks are done. This video Pagliery

explains that today’s background checks have a lot of problems that are causing the wrong

people to be able to purchase guns. He explains that the background checks are not strict enough

and are causing more and more deaths caused by gun violence. It states that most people lie on

the background check and the FBI has to track down their paper records that shoe what the

person has been involved in. The process of looking into the buyer’s record and court records

takes a long time and the FBI has a very short deadline to do so. This causes them to rush their

work and just allow the person to buy the gun anyway. That is a very big problem and it is

caused by very “easy” background checks made by the FBI. Government agencies legally have

to turn over background records, but sometimes they don’t which causes the FBI to not know

what that person has been involved in. He states that 22% of gun sales are made privately and do

not require a background check.

This source is very useful because it is made by a very reliable source and it explains the

process of a background check. This source uses many examples of criminals that passed their

background check due to the FBI not being able to find their records. It concludes that

background checks today are not strict at all and barely prevent anything. The source makes the

viewers believe that their needs to be more extremely strict background checks.
 Parker4

I would use this source to support the fact that there needs to be more background checks

that aren’t easy to pass. I can also use this video to explain the process of background checks and

what they ask about the buyer.

“Background Checks on Gun Sales.” NAACP, 14 Feb. 2019, www.naacp.org/latest/background-

checks-gun-sales/.

This article explains that guns can be sold privately at gun shows and online without any

kind of background check. This problem has been presented to the government. The article goes

on to explain that a way to solve this problem is by increasing background checks and make the

only possible way to purchase a gun by licensed dealers that require background checks. The

author of the article believes that increasing background checks won’t solve the problem of gun

violence completely and right away, but it is a step towards decreasing gun violence in America.

The author of this article really believes that the legislation of increased background checks and

a change of gun suppliers will save lives.

The information in this article is relevant and reliable. The goal of this source is to give

examples on how the problem of gun violence can slowly start in the right direction. This source

compares to some of my sources that support the cause of increased background checks because

they all mention how people can get a weapon privately without any background check.

I would use this article in my essay to support increased background checks, but I would

also include the other idea of changing the gun suppliers as another alternative or idea in my

writing that could possibly work. This source changes how I feel about the subject by giving me
 Parker5

another idea that could possibly work in the fight against gun violence. I am now more open to

different ideas.

Lott, John R. “Background Checks Are Not the Answer to Gun Violence.” The New York Times,

The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2018,

www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/opinion/politics/background-checks-gun-violence.html

This article explains that background checks have so many unfixable problems that they

cannot decrease gun violence or keep guns out of the hands of criminals. One example Lott gives

is that background checks, “confuse” citizens that are able to buy a gun with other citizens who

should not. If you have the same name and a pretty close date of birth of a criminal who lives in

your state, you will not be able to pass the background check. Lott concludes that background

checks sometimes can’t tell a safe citizen to a citizen who would cause harm. If more

background checks were made then more problems would occur in the system of trying to find if

a person should pass the background check.

The article is posted by New York Times who is a very reliable source and the

information is relevant and up to date. This article changed the way I think and has given me a

different side of the argument of increased background checks. The information is very helpful

by giving me a different point of view to look at to include in my essay. This source compares to

the video made by CNN called, “Flaws in Gun Background Check System Cost Lives” by Jose

Pagliery. Thry both explain the problems in background checks.

 Parker6

I would use this source as a counterargument to the support that increased background

checks can help decrease gun violence and to include different point of views in my essay as

well. It has changed how I feel about the subject by showing me a different point of view.

Greene, Michael. “Background Checks for Guns Save Lives.” The Santa Fe New Mexican

(Santa Fe, NM), 2017. Sinclair Library Database,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.494654693&site=eds-live.

This article explains how background checks are good for our society and how they

work. Greene concludes that background checks show who should not be able to purchase a gun

and without background checks our situation would be much worse. Background checks help

find criminal reports and they prevent more shooting and deaths from happening.

This source is from a library database and is a very reliable and relevant source. This

source is very useful because it gives me more information to base my grounds off of to support

the claim that more strict background checks will help our situation. This source so far is the inly

source that directly agrees with everything about background check. The main goal of this source

is to explain why background checks are needed.

I can use this source to support the claim that increased background checks will help

decrease the problem of gun violence. I can use the reasons and examples of why background

checks are good for support in my essay.

 Parker7

Sutton, Halley. “Correlation Found between Decreased Risk of School Shootings, Mandatory

Background Checks on Gun Sales.” Campus Security Report, no. 10, 2017, p.

9. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1002/casr.30239.

In this source, Halley explains a pattern found that actually the more background checks

done on people and the more careful the government is in giving the right to purchase a firearm,

the less deaths and shooting have occurred. She believes if the FBI takes their time in looking at

buyer’s records and court papers that more people who should not get a gun, don’t. The source

explains that more background checks would make a more careful and safe society.

The information is from a Sinclair Database and the information is relevant and correct.

This source is not biased. This information is very helpful to me and it gives me more support to

my claim.

I would use this article to explain further why more background checks would help fight

gun violence. This would add more support to my claim and it has made me feel more confident

about why background checks are needed in our society today.

“Under the Gun.” Imdb.com. Directed by Stephanie Soechtig, Writing by Brian David Lazarte,

Mark Monroe, and Stephanie Soechtig. Epix. 2016.

This source is a documentary made by Stephanie Soechtig that shows how school

shootings and other shootings have been made possible in the past by people not needing

background checks. The point of this article is to show that we need more background checks to

keep guns out of bad people’s hands. The documentary uses many examples of real shootings
 Parker8

that have happened by people who did not have a background check. Shows that more

background checks are needed.

I would use this source to give me actual real life examples of how background checks

are needed and real life situations of shootings. This source does not compare to all of the rest

because it is a documentary and it is very powerful.