Spotlight: Repeatedly shooting incidents spark debate again - World - Tibetol

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Spotlight: Repeatedly shooting incidents spark debate again
By:Xinhua
update:November 02,2017

And last year in Dallas, a sniper shot and killed five police officers and wounded seven others, and two civilians. The shots rang out after videos were aired on TV news showing two black men shot by police in Louisiana and Minnesota.

The growing number of mass shootings in the United States has become a big concern for citizens, elected officials, law-enforcement officers and victims' rights advocates alike. A national debate has emerged pitting gun rights advocates against public health officials and citizens who want more regulations for gun purchases.

"Anytime an incident like that (Las Vegas) happens, it reminds everybody that 'this could happen to me, also,'" said Travis James, vice president of business development at The Arms Room, a gun store and shooting range in Dickinson, Texas, south of Houston. "It is a situation that would be impossible to plan for."

James said that current U.S. gun regulations are sufficient, but that more should be done to enforce existing laws on the books. Requiring mental health checks for prospective gun buyers is not feasible, he said, because of medical patient privacy laws.

"Unfortunately, the only way to stop a bad buy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," he said. "You can talk about gun violence all day long, but violence is violence. If you eliminate the gun, people are still going to be hurting people with baseball bats and knives, and vehicles."

Given the proliferation of gun sales in the United States, government officials should scrutinize the psychiatric backgrounds of all prospective buyers, said James M. Douglas, dean of the Thurgood Marshal School of Law in Houston.

"Everyone doesn't need to be walking around with a gun, especially people who have mental problems to start with," he said. "To me that seems like a no-brainer, but all these politicians are so afraid of taking on the NRA (National Rifle Association) lobby."

The nonprofit NRA is opposed to just about every form of gun regulation, including restrictions on owning assault weapons. NRA makes significant financial contributions to politicians, spending over 30 million U.S. dollars during the 2016 election alone, according to reports.

Edward Scruggs, a board member of Texas Gun Sense, agrees that mental health checks should be required for prospective gun buyers.

"A modern, up to date and universal system of background checks prior to purchase would help make it more difficult for those with a history of mental illness from obtaining a gun," he said. "As it stands now, it is possible for almost any adult with an ID to buy a firearm at certain gun shows, the Internet or through private transfer - therefore bypassing a background check.

"Changing federal law to allow a digital compilation of background check records would make the system more accurate and efficient," he said.

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