Imagine your child is approaching high school graduation with their whole life ahead of them. Next year they will go to college and you will see them blossom into the wonderful person you know they are. Now imagine the horror of hearing that your child was shot and killed while at school. It's hard to imagine the enormous amount of pain and anger that would flood a person's body in a situation like this. No one should have to endure such pain. Now imagine how much this pain would be intensified if there was a possibility that the entire accident could have been avoided. This scene is all too familiar in this country. A boy, who for some reason is angry at the world, goes to school with a gun and kills innocent people. If you don't think this could ever happen to you, ask the parents of the victims of the Columbine High School crash. They will tell you that even they never imagined this could happen to them. Isn't it reasonable to say that we must do everything we can to prevent such things from happening again? This is exactly why we desperately need to close the gun show loophole. Unlicensed dealers and private collectors who sell guns at the thousands of gun shows in this country each year should be required to ask for identification and have licensed dealers perform background checks before selling any guns to potential customers. If these measures are not required, anyone – including convicted criminals, minors and even terrorists – will be able to obtain firearms at any local gun show. This creates nightmares not only about Columbine, but also about innocent civilians who are killed by terrorists with weapons purchased at weapons shows in the United States.... middle of paper... If there are so many weapons are sold in this unregulated market that the paperwork for background checks on those purchasing these weapons would be unmanageable, doesn't this prove just how big of a problem the gun show loophole is and how desperately it needs to be closed? No one wants to think about taking away the “inalienable” rights of law-abiding US citizens, which is exactly what this type of legislation would not do. The only people who would be affected by such legislation would be sportsmen, and if you have any questions lingering in your mind on this topic, ask a sportsman this question: “What is most important to you, being able to buy a gun for a little faster or doing everything you can to avoid getting a call that your child has been shot and killed? I think any sportsman's answer will solve your lingering questions.