Brady law.The law establishes mandatory background checks on gun purchasers. There are also long standing state laws requiring handgun owners to register their guns and have permits, therefore no need for Congress to legislate this point. The republican 106th Congress has been successful in blocking or logjamming many of the attempts to restrict the sale and ownership of guns. Legislation that has failed includes mandatory registration of all firearms, child safety locks, limits on the number of guns a person can buy within a given period of time, and making American-made handguns subject to standards "currently required of imports." These proposed methods of gun control are criticized for being highly reactionary. For example raising the standard to import quality would eliminate many of the cheaper and more affordable guns from the market. It is a subversive maneuver to deteriorate the gun market and drive up the cost of handguns.The media also plays an important role in the gun control debate. The media has promoted gun control legislation through the reporting of child violence. The media often spins stories that imply that guns and the availability of guns are the reasons behind violence and school shootings. However the media itself may be part of the problem by glamorizing tragedies and the criminals responsible. In the case of the repeated school shootings the media could be a sizable factor in copycat crimes.The argument can be made that censoring the media would be as ineffective to stopping gun violence as much of the proposed gun legislation.A good example of how pervasive the gun control issue can be is the election of Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) who took a dramatic stand on gun control. She is considered to be a single-issue candidate. In 1993, McCarthys husband was gunned down and her son paralyzed by the Long Island Rail Road gunman Collin Ferguson. Enraged by this tragedy and Representative Dan Frisas () vote to r...
