Study Suggests Additional Background Checks Deter Gun Deaths
by Jason Morris
Local and state checks can lead to fewer homicides and suicides
By Evan Rytlewski
In the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, the deadliest one-man shooting rampage in U.S. history, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people with guns he purchased from licensed dealers. Under federal law, Cho should have been forbidden to purchase firearms since a judge had deemed him to be mentally ill, but the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)—the mandatory database that licensed gun dealers use to screen customers—showed no record of his mental condition.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre and the renewed gun control debate that followed, nonpartisan researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) questioned whether more thorough background checks could have prevented Cho from obtaining those guns. They conducted a study comparing firearm homicide and suicide rates across states.
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act requires all states to screen gun buyers against the NICS, but individual states can require additional checks. Seventeen states, including Wisconsin, also use additional state-level background checks, and 12 states use local-level checks.
Tags: gun background checks
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