About This Lesson
Introduction: Background checks are central to efforts by law enforcement to keep guns out of the hands of people who would use them to cause harm to themselves or others. Since the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (or “Brady Law”) was enacted 25 years ago, it has blocked more than three million prohibited gun purchases and processed over 278 million purchase requests. When someone goes to a federally licensed dealer to buy a gun, the retailer contacts the FBI to run a background check. The FBI checks the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to see if they are a felon, fugitive, domestic abuser or other prohibited purchaser. If the system reveals the buyer is legally barred from owning a gun, the sale is denied.
Objective: In this lesson, students will analyze the role that Brady background checks play in gun violence prevention. They will discuss the effectiveness of the system and consider whether the system is too restrictive, should be kept in its current state, or should be expanded to close the loopholes discussed.
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