If all of the shootings that have occurred recently, even through the holiday season, wasn’t enough to warrant action, the next big move that may be coming in terms of changes to the current gun control laws is expected to be sometime next month when President Barack Obama is expected to issue an executive order that will be changing the way United States citizens will be purchasing their firearms.
For those who are unfamiliar with how current gun laws work, federal law does require background checks for purchases made with federally licensed gun dealers. Although there is a bit of an issue with this as a big number of purchases are done by people who are actually not federally licensed. These sales occur during big gun shows, online posting, and private auctions done across the country, with some or none of the transactions ever going through a background check with the FBI.
The problem with this is that a lot of those involved really are not keen on going through additional steps and bureaucracies in order to sell their personal firearms. A recent research conducted by Harvard estimates that over 40% of firearm sales are done this way and without any type of background checking. This problem is majorly used by gun advocates as the core issue on why criminal and those who are mentally unstable are able to acquire firearms thus resulting in all of the mass shootings that have been happening.
On the other side of the coin however, some gun advocates believe that strict gun control and expanding background checks don’t really solve the problem. Some also fear that if Obama does expand the requirement of background checks for any and all purchases, this move is claimed to be just a step closer to a total ban and confiscation of their firearms. The National Rifle Association is one such organization that claims the any additional gun control will lead to the total infringement of the second amendment rights.
If Obama does decide to exercise his executive authority in order to broaden the current background check mandate, there will surely be some challenges ahead, not to mention numerous lawsuits and objections from numerous pro-gun republicans currently in power. One thing is for sure, the great debate regarding gun control in United States will continue on in 2016.