Why We Need Universal Background Checks. "In order to help you understand why it's so important to implement universal background checks, we wanted to share this story from our ThinkProgress colleague Scott Keyes. He was able to buy four AR-15 assault weapons in just 20 minutes. Here's his story: Last week, four people in Colorado offered to sell me Smith & Wesson M&P15 assault rifles, the same weapon used by James Holmes in the Aurora theater massacre last year. In each case, the seller neither required nor requested a background check to make sure I wasn't a criminal or mentally ill. If that sounds bizarre, it should. 92 percent of Americans support a law requiring anyone who purchases a gun anywhere to first pass a background check. And yet, in Colorado and most states, private gun sales are exempted from such a requirement." |