H.R. 8 is a law that would require background checks for every rifle purchase, but many Americans feel as though this is an infringement on their Second Amendment right to bear arms.
As it exists now there are very few restrictions on gun buying and selling in America and only a few Acts have been passed into law regulating this. There have been acts to tax and to have age restrictions on gun purchases, but none that really bar a person from getting what they want. Though background checks do exist when purchasing from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL), it only takes about 30 seconds for someone to be qualified for that purchase.
Though these searches look for criminal history, there really is no check for mental health as it usually goes untreated and does not disqualify someone from owning a gun even if they have been noted and treated in the past.
I am not saying those who have mental illness cannot have a gun, but we need to make sure that they are capable of handling it properly and do not wish to use the weapon for mal use.
I just feel bothered and uncomfortable knowing the Las Vegas shooter had 14 .223-calibar AR-15 type rifles and eight .308-calibar AR-10 type rifles in his hotel room on the night of the shooting. Had these purchases been marked or flagged in any other way or more background checks been required this, the larget mass shooting in modern day American history, may have never happened.
I understand the need and want to protect yourself, it’s a right every American citizen has, but we need to be more vigilant and aware of where these semi-automatic weapons are going, and if anything, require stronger background checks for them.
I do not want your guns, I just want to feel safe going to grocery stores, going to the movies, going to a concert and most importantly, I want to feel safe going to school.
You should not be able to walk into a gun store and leave with a gun the same day. This isn’t an act of control, this is an act of safety.
This is an act of life and not a death sentence to your freedom.