Federal background check system in the limelight after shooting at Highland Park

Hours after a shootout in Highland Park, Illinois, overturned the parade, killing seven people and injuring dozens more, police arrested a man who believed they were responsible.

The case draws attention to access to firearms in the United States under existing legislation and screening processes and raises new questions to prevent gun violence.

Shooting also raised the question that the proposed policy or existing law could have prevented this latest hot-selling gun violence incident.

Robert “Bobby” E. Climo III, 21, faces seven first-class murder charges in connection with the shooting. Authorities reportedly climbed the rooftop of a nearby company and fired a few minutes after the parade began. Run parade participants and participants for safety.

State police confirmed on Tuesday that Kurimo had passed four background checks when purchasing firearms between June 2020 and September 2021. National Instant Criminal Background Check System..

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotelling told CNN Anderson Cooper that he was “looking forward to an explanation” of how Klimo was able to get the gun.

“In other countries, people are suffering from mental illness, anger, and may be playing violent video games, but they cannot get the weapons of these wars, Hometowns that cannot bring this kind of genocide to them. ” “This must be stopped.”

Legally obtained weapons used, officials say

Kurimo is believed to have planned an attack for several weeks by authorities, and the rifle he used and another rifle allegedly had when arrested by police appear to have been legally purchased in Illinois. That’s what Chris Coveli, a spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, said. Other guns were recovered from his house in nearby Highwood.

To buy a gun in Illinois, you need a Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) card. Climo was under the age of 21, so he was backed by his father, state police said. According to the authorities, the application for Climo was not rejected because there was “clear and inadequate grounds for establishing the present danger” at the time.

According to police, the only crime in Kurimo’s history was a January 2016 violation of the tobacco possession that occurred when he was a boy.

In an interview, Daniel Webster, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Gun Violence Solutions Center, said US gun law was generally “written to not only protect public safety but also promote commerce.” ..

“Our law leans towards the default of” letting someone get a gun “as opposed to” let’s have a careful process “before getting a deadly weapon. .. ”

Federal background check mechanism

The existing background check system requires federally licensed gun dealers to perform checks on all buyers. Buyers are prohibited from buying firearms due to a variety of factors, including criminal records such as felony convictions and decisions made through the arbitrage process that an individual threatens himself or others due to his mental condition. There is a possibility that it will be. ..

Buyers seeking to purchase firearms from a federally licensed dealer must present their government-issued ID to the seller and fill out a form designed to screen out potential ineligible factors. there is. The seller typically sends information to the FBI to allow the agency to match the applicant’s information with the database. This process can take just a few minutes.

Changes made by the new bipartisan gun law

Congress recently Bipartisan safer community law, This corresponds to the first major federal gun safety law in decades. The bill, signed by President Joe Biden, has made significant changes to US gun policy, including provisions that affect the sale of firearms.

As one of the key changes, the bill requires individuals who sell firearms for commercial purposes (who previously evaded registration as a federally licensed firearms distributor) to seek approval. ..

“There are individuals who sell many guns and sell them as unlicensed private sellers. It’s clear they’re doing this for profit … it’s (alcohol, cigarettes, firearms, explosions). Ability to sue people who sell many guns without a license to the Bureau of Things), which forces more individuals to obtain a license, so complete a background check on gun sales “You have to,” said Webster of the Gun Violence Solutions Center.

“This is very important because we’re talking about quite a few guns that are subject to background checks, otherwise they simply won’t sell.”

This bill is also a long-standing loophole in domestic violence law, the so-called Boyfriend loophole -Prohibited individuals convicted of domestic violent crimes against spouses, partners sharing children, or cohabiting partners with guns. The old law did not include intimate partners who could not live together, get married, or share children. Currently, the law prohibits people convicted of domestic violent crimes against someone who “continues a serious relationship of romantic or intimate nature” with a gun.

In addition, the bill encourages states to include juvenile records in a national immediate criminal background check system with subsidies and implements a new protocol to check those records.

How can you enhance the gun purchase review process?

Despite the enforcement of the new bipartisan law, there are still ways buyers can slip through cracks in existing systems and make the federal system more comprehensive.

For example, current law provides a practical 72-hour time frame for background checks. When that time frame expires, the authorized dealer can complete the sale even if the FBI has not yet completed the background check.

“I think it’s a big problem for me. Many wanted it to be fixed,” Webster said.

In addition, some states have implemented licensing requirements for pistol buyers, but in contrast to gun sellers, they may set up a stricter review process conducted by law enforcement agencies. There is no federal license obligation equivalent to the purchaser.

“Our research has shown that a comprehensive background check is required for the system to work, and a licensing system is needed to make a greater impact from the regulatory process.” Webster said. “The licensing system has been found to be much more effective in reducing murder, suicide, mass shootings, and even mass shootings involving law enforcement officers. It also prevents human trafficking.”

“We are the only high-income Western democracy without a license system for firearm buyers, only the United States,” Webster added.

Contributed by CNN’s Travis Caldwell, Jason Hanna, Dakin Andone, and Aaron Smith.

Source: www.cnn.com

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