Universal Background Checks

According to some news reports, "universal" background checks are the "low-hanging fruit" in Congress right now. There is unlikely to be a new Assault Weapons Ban; magazine limits are also unlikely to pass. But there is a chance, they say, that a law may be passed to require federal background checks on private sales, except between family members.

But what is the point in requiring universal background checks against a database that is missing millions of names, as the Wall Street Journal points out:

Contributions to the database have since been sparse, because of privacy laws, technological hurdles and the costs of reporting, according to a July report by the Government Accountability Office. 

Just 12 states account for the vast majority of the mental-health records in the national database, the GAO found, "and most states have made little or no progress in providing these records."