With the alarming frequency of mass shootings and so-called “gun violence” we Americans face each day, there is an equal chorus of calls for our politicians (a.k.a. “civil servants”) to “do something.” Yet many Americans don’t know what, exactly, that “something” might be! They’ll cry out for “common sense legislation,” yet again, fall short on the details. Ditto “gun control.” Ignorant of the tens of thousands of federal and state laws governing guns, “Joe Average” is told by the media how our gun laws are “weak,” “lax” and laden with “loopholes.” And they’re believed!
Truth be told, most loopholes are fiction, and every shooting incident already broke several laws on the books. A classic example is “the Charleston loophole.” When a gun purchase is made at a licensed gun dealer, the prospective buyer undergoes a background check. (Yes, this is ALREADY a thing.) Usually this process is brief, completed by the time the buyer completes his/her paperwork. Yet sometimes a buyer is flagged, meaning that the system found a potential problem with the sale that requires an actual, living agent to investigate. The law provides the F.B.I. a three day window to either clear and allow the sale or deny it. If they don’t meet this window, the sale is allowed to proceed. In the case of the Charleston shooter, this had deadly consequences.
