Gun Control Essay, Research Paper

Seven Days: Is it Enough Time?

In 1981 President Ronald Reagan was the target of an attempted assassination, which instead hit the press secretary, James Brady, who is now an invalid because of the bullet that entered his head that day. After this tragedy happened, more legislation on gun control came to congress than had ever been attempted before. Among the most publicized of these was the Brady Bill, known by its full name of The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Prevention Act. Of the many provisions in the Act one has always stood out to me as maybe being able to solve some of the violence in this country. This provision would require that anyone wanting to purchase a pistol or revolver would have to endure a seven-day waiting period before he or she could actually have possession of the handgun. Two good reasons that this provision would work include that the seven days would give time for an identification check to be made on the person wishing to purchase the gun and this amount of time would give anyone angry a “cooling off” period. A dark side to this part of the Act is the prevalence of weapons on the black market. Seven days would be more than enough time for the proper identification to be made on the person who wants to buy the weapon. According to the May 25, 1991 issue of America, this bill would require gun dealers to give local police the names, addresses and birth dates of people seeking to buy handguns. The police would be allowed, although not obliged, to check the backgrounds of these potential customers for criminal or mental health records. This means of “sifting” the prospective gun buyers can and, I believe, will turn away some of the potentially violent people. The State of California has had a waiting period put into service, and it has seemingly helped to prevent a number of violent crimes throughout the state. An article in the December 4, 1989 issue of U. S. News & World Report states that there is no possible way that the FBI computers could be able to keep track of “every criminal case.” With this point I agree. The congressional Digest from June and July of 1991 says, “40% to 60% or more of felony convictions are not…immediately accessible by law enforcement authorities.” Of course a few criminals and other undesirables will slip through the identification check, but it would be worth having if it only stopped a few murders in this country a year. The seven day wait would also provide a “cooling off” period for those people who in the heat of anger rush out to buy a gun and take care of their problems. There is probably not a person alive today who at sometime in his life was so very angry that he would have probably done something that he ordinarily would not have done had he been calm and in control of his emotions. Under this provision if a person, who is in this state of mind, goes to buy a gun, he can not have possession of this gun for another seven days. Surely by that time his proper feelings and emotions will have taken over and he no longer wants the gun to commit an act of violence on another person. The Congressional Digest of June and July in 1991 says that “No law abiding citizen should have any problem with waiting seven days for a gun.” Most people buy a gun the same way they buy a car. They will shop around for the best deal and the exact thing that they want and a seven-day waiting period is not that much of a hassle to the common sportsman, who just wants a gun for sport. A reason why this provision will not totally eliminate all violent crimes in this country is the black market, where guns can be purchased by anyone with no restrictions at all. I have heard that over 80% of all handguns are bought and sold on the black market. Another statement from the Congressional Digest of June and July in 1991 says, “…any felon denied a handgun through legitimate means.will probably seek one from the abundant supply of black-market weapons.” Especially any person who is a known criminal would have no problem at all with finding a black-market dealer and purchasing any kind of weapon he desires. Sometimes even the cost of the weapon is less from a black-market dealer than from a legitimate gun dealer. Most of the black-market dealt weapons are stolen, therefore; making the cost much less since the weapon did not cost the dealer anything at all. The whole black-market is really the main problem with gun control in this country. If the black-market could be stopped or even minimized, then a lot of the gun problems would cease to exist. Sure, a seven-day waiting period would help, but as long as the black-market exists the problem will not ever be completely solved. The good sides of the provision, the identification check and the “cooling off” period, would be a tremendous help to the gun control problem, but as long as the dark side of the black-market remains the provision can not be a “cure-all” for the issue of gun control. In the September 26, 1988 issue of Time, the magazine quoted Representative Henry Hyde from Illinois, Representative Hyde stated, “If we made it a little more difficult for someone who is angry to kill, maybe we would save some lives.” I appreciated Rep. Hyde’s comments, and fully agree with all that he says. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is not the cure all , but it certainly is a great start to some really restrictive gun control legislation.