Controversial Gun Background Check Bill Passed by Legislature

The past years had been witness to several attempts by both gun control advocates and their second amendment counterparts. Now a new bill has been passed by Utah state legislature that has caused much controversy. The proprietor and sponsor of the controversial gun bill, Senator Margaret Dayton, claims that the purpose of the Bill is to limit the federal government's control over the states and its citizen's right.

The bill proposes that all firearms stored, manufactured or constructed in the state should be exempt from any federal regulations. This means that dealers will not be required to acquire licenses for firearms bought and made within the state, this also may mean that buyers will no longer go through background checks using the FBI Instant Criminal Background Check System, allowing anyone; include convicted felons to freely purchase firearms.

The bill was passed and won by a vote of 56 for it and 17 against it. Representative Stephen Sandstorm, one of the representatives who voted for the bill, expressed his support and said that the focus of the bill is to protect the state's rights and to keep the power of the federal government in check. According to Representative Sandstorm, there are also 20 other states that are currently also preparing bills that are similar in purpose.

There is only one more obstacle for the bill to become a law, first it must be approved by the office of Utah Governor Gary Herbert, and there has yet to be an announcement of a decision from Governor Herbert's office, and even with recent interview the Governor has yet to reveal his stance towards the bill.

Criminal Background Checks Reveals One in Twenty Nine College Students has Criminal Records

An investigative country wide survey conducted by a private background checking agency has revealed a startling statistic, approximately one out of every twenty-nine college students has had some type of previous criminal or violation record. The statistic was derived from multiple checks conducted on 13,859 students in 125 colleges, universities, career colleges, and other educational institutions.

On the background checks done during the survey, the agency only looked for criminal convictions and criminal records, they did not include any dismissed charges or any juvenile records, which are sealed by the courts and not publicly accessible. The statistic also did not include any arrest records that did not result in a conviction.

Percentage of Crime Types Uncovered:

Child Molestation or Child Abuse - 2.40 %
Fraud/Financial Fraud - 2.70 %
Assault/Battery/ Attempted Assault - 4.00 %
Sexual Abuse and Sexual Crimes - 5.20 %
Drug Possession/Trafficking - 7.40 %
Theft/Robbery - 8.80 %
Disorderly Conduct - 9.50 %
Driving Violations/DUI - 60.00 %

A record would only affect a person's criminal history unless it is classified as a crime, and in the case of the survey, driving violations were the most common crime found on the college student's records. These would include reckless driving, driving under the influence or driving with a suspended license.

The numbers on the statistic may seem scary to some people, and may alarm some students across the country, but the purpose of this survey is to inform parents and university heads of the unnoticed and growing rates of college students getting into trouble with the law, and with these numbers perhaps also a risk to other members of these universities.

Recently, more and more universities are performing extensive background checks on applicants, and are performing assessments on those they consider to be a risk, and at most times allow people with less serious crimes to enroll, while weeding out the ones that could pose a danger to their students and faculty.

There are a lot of groups and parents against the said move by universities nationwide, but time and time again, it has been proven that our schools are not doing their job of protecting the students, and perhaps need to rethink their evaluation and application methods because of the rise of college violence and crimes, as evident in the columbine and Virginia tech shooting that happened a few years back.