Your Take: Is It Time to Strengthen Federal Gun Background Checks?

It’s no secret that the country has been divided on the best way to address gun violence in the United States, and while Connecticut legislators passed stricter gun laws earlier this month, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday took a stance against a plan that aimed to strengthen background checks nationwide.

The Senate voted failed to pass the bill, designed to expand background checks in an effort to reduce criminal purchases, when a 54-46 vote in favor of the background check proposal was not great enough to stave off a filibuster on the bill.

“On the issue of enhanced background checks, the American people are clear – 92 percent support them. The real question is how do the senators that voted against this most basic, common sense reform justify their vote against this measure?” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, one of many Connecticut politicians to criticize the vote, said Wednesday.

Many have said the extensive checks would serve to prevent guns from being sold legally to criminals, while others have said the measure would only serve to make it harder for law-abiding citizens to purchase weapons legally.

Chris W. Cox, executive director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action, said the measure would have “criminalized certain private transfers of firearms between honest citizens, requiring lifelong friends, neighbors and some family members to get federal government permission to exercise a fundamental right or face prosecution.” 

“As we have noted previously, expanding background checks, at gun shows or elsewhere, will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools,” Cox said in a statement on the NRA website.

So what’s your take? Should the background checks have passed through the Senate? Was it a distraction from the true issue of gun violence? Tell us you thoughts in the comments section below.

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