UCLA Shooting: Another Proof Universal Background Checks Don’t Work

The June 1 murder-suicide on the gun-free UCLA campus was yet another proof that universal background checks do not stop a determined attacker.

After all, California has universal background checks, yet that state has also witnessed the UCLA shooting, the San Bernardino attack (December 2015), the Santa Barbara shooting (May 2014), and a nation-leading property crime surge in San Francisco.

These sad events are a long way from the safety and tranquilty gun control proponents like Gabby Giffords, Shannon Watts, Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA), and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) suggest could be ours — if only lawmakers in DC would pass universal background checks.

The reality was not lost on the Associated Press in the days after the San Bernardino attack, and it must not be lost on us now. On December 6–four days after the San Bernardino attack — the AP pointed out the obvious: aggressive gun control failed California.

The same must be said of the UCLA shooting, an incident in which Mainak Sarkar used guns that were acquired via background checks. Here is why: California has universal background checks — a gun control mechanism that has become legend in the minds of gun control proponents, and which is peddled by hardcore leftists as a cure-all for gun violence. But Sarkar was able to obtain a gun even with universal background checks in place.

By passing a background for his guns, Sarker joined an immense list of gunmen who mocked the system. That list includes the gunman who killed 32 at Virginia Tech, the gunman who shot Gabby Giffords, the Aurora theater gunman, and the Umpqua Community College gunman–among many, many others. The fact that they are not hindered by background checks is itself a testimony to the impotency of background checks.

But it should be noted that even if Sarkar had not passed a background check–or if he passed his background check in another state, then smuggled the gun into California — the failure of universal background checks would still be demonstrated, and the NRA’s point that criminals will not comply with gun control would be substantiated.

And it is interesting to note that Colorado also has expanded background checks, yet that state had two high-profile shootings in the latter portions of 2015. The first was carried out by Noah Harpman, who shot and killed three on Halloween day before being shot and killed by police. The second was carried out by Robert Lewis Dear, who shot and killed two civilians and a police officer at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood Nov. 27.

Moreover, France has universal background checks — and myriad other gun controls. Yet 130 were gunned down in Paris on November 13 and 12, and were gunned down at Charlie Hebdo headquarters on January 7, 2015.

We must come to grips with the fact that universal background checks do not work. In fact, they slant the table in favor of the criminally inclined.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.