NPR

20 Years On, The Background Check System Continues To Miss Dangerous Gun Buyers

Mere months before the shooting at Columbine High School, the federal government established a background check system to screen gun buyers but shootings haven't waned.

Twenty years ago, a pair of students killed a teacher and a dozen of their classmates a high school in Littleton, Colo. The shooters at Columbine High School used semiautomatic weapons and sawed-off shotguns in the attack before turning the guns on themselves.

Just a few months before that shooting, the FBI launched the National Instant Background Check System to try and prevent dangerous individuals from purchasing guns.

And in the two decades since, the federal government says it has conducted more than hundreds of

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR4 min read
What Are Sperm Whales Saying? Researchers Find A Complex 'Alphabet'
Researchers say sperm whales have a complex communication system, an example of how new technology is opening up the mysterious world of animal language.
NPR3 min read
'Long Island' Renders Bare The Universality Of Longing
In a heartrending follow-up to his beloved 2009 novel, Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín handles uncertainties and moral conundrums with exquisite delicacy, zigzagging through time to a devastating climax.
NPR4 min read
How A U.S. Customs And Border Protection Veteran Sees His Agency's Mission
Ryan Riccucci, a 17-year agency veteran, says he feels the agency is misunderstood by the U.S. public.

Related Books & Audiobooks