The current background checks aren't worth a shit, all they do is find out if you are a past convicted felon. A background check that looks more closely at someone's background and a 30 day waiting period to accomplish that check might help. It seems inside of a day or 2 in practically every case it is revealed that the shooter has mental problems. Why don't we make that determination BEFORE someone sells them a gun?
Background checks are essential to a degree- A history of making threats or any acts of violence and criminal history are all helpful things to know about someone's past before just allowing them to carry a gun out of a store.
I will also say, that predicting someone's behavior, based on their past history, in the future is never more than a good guess when all you see are first time offenses. If you see trends of multiple incidents of violence or making threats or having criminal behaviors, the icing is pretty much on the cake, as this type of history should raise a huge RED FLAG.
Do background checks save lives? I think they would. I mean, do seat belts save live?- YES! Do Speed limits save lives? YES! Do Vaccinations save lives? YES?
Is doing something better than nothing! YES!
Laws will never prevent some from breaking the law! Laws will still be broken. But laws are not even there to prevent crime- THEY ARE DESIGNED TO DETER CRIME- and they do.
Just because it is against the law to rob a bank, there will always be banks that are still robbed- BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE SHOULD JUST DO AWAY WiTH THE LAW THAT MAKE IT A CRIME. Can you only imagine how many bank robberies there would be daily- IF THERE WERE NO LAW CREATED TO DETER IT?
And just because someone today has never committed a crime- DOES NOT MEAN THEY WILL NEVER COMMIT A CRIME!
AND JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS NO CRIMINAL or mental issues in the past, at the time of a background checK, does not mean they will not go out and commit a crime with it the minute they HAVE a gun in their hands!
BUT DOING SOMETHING, IS STILL BETTER THAN NOTHING!
Having a background check before purchasing a firearm is still better than doing nothing!
The Democrat House has had a Bill on requiring background checks before the purchase of a gun, sitting in McConnell's inbox for two years, and he hasn't even bothered to bring it to the floor for a vote with his own Republican side of the Congress.