Seems to me that rather than trying to raise awareness of the brutually obvious capabilities of a firearm, you should seek raise awareness of the dangers of living the morally depraved "inner city lifestyle" itself.
But the culture of violence mixed with the culture of guns is obviously a deadly combanation. The morally depraved inner city lifestyle is not a choice for many kids currently living in it. I just think that that culture glorifies the use of guns and the laws that are out there make it extremely easy to get their hands on one.
Which is a good reason for background checks. I mean, when the U.S. Government asked me to write about the past 5 years of my life, citing where I'd lived, who I'd known, and what I'd done (I was applying for a Top Secret clearance), I willingly gave all the information to them, because I already knew I'd lived a life that would pass quite easily.
I feel the same thing about someone running a background check on me now if I wanted to buy a gun. I have no arrests for violent behavior, nor am I a felon, and I know I'd pass the test quite easily.
Which...............is why I support background checks for ALL gun purchases. If the law abiding citizens want to buy a gun, if they are truly law abiding, they won't mind the check, because they know they'll pass it. If a person ISN'T a law abiding citizen, right now, all they have to do to avoid the background check is to go to a gun show and either (a) buy the gun themselves, or (b) have someone else (a straw purchaser) go in and get it for them.
If background checks were required at gun shows as well? Criminals and straw purchasers wouldn't go there to get their guns anymore, they'd have to go to the black market, where the purchase price is significantly higher than if they'd bought it in a store.
Pretty good post all the way down to the last paragraph. background checks do not effect straw purchasers, by definition a straw purchaser is one who purchases a gun with a background check for or to sell it to a person who can't pass a check. The only real way to catch them is through gun traces.