Newtown Connecticut Shooting Results in Record-Level Background Checks on Gun Purchases as Push for Gun-Control Law Continues

According to FBI, more people have received background checks at the time of gun-purchase this month in 2012, than the same time in 2011, mainly after the Newtown elementary school shooting in Connecticut.

According to Reuters, 2.9 million have received checks in December of this year, nearly 19 percent more than those of last year and almost a million more from the previous month of November 2012.

The issue of gun-control has occupied a prominent place in the national debate with President Obama pushing for amendments in the current gun-control legislation.

The president has vested responsibility to Vice President, Joe Biden, to guide lawmakers in constructing possible changes in the nation's gun control legislation.

In a speech at Newton after the shooting, President Obama said, "no single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. But that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this," as reported by CNN News.

The president has given responsibility to his vice president for good reason. In 1988, Biden introduced a Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which took nearly six year to pass through congress, which it did in 1994. In 2007, Biden looked to pass the Crime Control and Prevention Act. Both of these legislations deal with federal gun-control and also seek to strengthen background checks on purchases of weapons as well as stricter mental health assessment of those who purchase weapons.

Senator Diane Feinstein, judiciary committee chair, also announced that she will work to create a legislation that would ban assault weapons.

According to the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, the president will support Feinstein's efforts. According to Wall Street Journal, Carney also said, "the president would consider limits on high-capacity magazines and would back efforts to prevent people from buying guns through unlicensed dealers without a background check."

The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced that it would support "meaningful contribution" to prevent further mass shootings such as the one that took place in elementary school in Connecticut on Friday.

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