Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- It’s not difficult to grasp how a
man with a history of gun arrests and mental instability
obtained the necessary firepower to commit a massacre at the
Washington Navy Yard earlier this week. Buying a gun, or even an
arsenal, is exceptionally easy in the U.S.
Even so, there are some people who both fail to meet the
minimal requirements for purchasing a gun from a licensed dealer
and whose relevant personal details are known to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. Since 1998, the FBI’s National Instant
Criminal Background Check System has stopped more than 2 million
attempted gun purchases by felons, domestic abusers, drug
addicts, the mentally ill and other prohibited persons.
