Efficacy of background checks still up for debate, 36 years after the assassination attempt that spawned NICS

By Christen Smith

Police and Secret Service agents react during the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan after a conference in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mike Evens/Getty Images)
On March 30, 1981, a man trying to impress Jodie Foster opened fire on then-President Ronald Reagan as he left a hotel in Washington, D.C., striking and permanently disabling his press secretary Jim Brady.
More than a decade later, Congress approved the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, which requires a background check for all handguns bought through federally licensed dealers. Brady and his wife, Sarah, lobbied for the measure in coordination with the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, the original name for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, for six years.
Since the Brady bill went into effect, the FBI has processed more than 257 million background checks for gun purchases and concealed permit applications, however, the debate about the legislation’s impact on gun violence is still fraught as ever.
“The law has been an unqualified success,” the Brady campaign says on its website. “Since 1994, more than 2 million attempts-to-purchase at gun stores by prohibited purchasers have been stopped from buying guns. This simple step protects everyone — gun owners and non-gun owners alike —

Source: Guns.com