Background check on gun purchases

If you need a gun right now, you probably don't need a gun.

This seems to be the topic of the day, so I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

In my experience in Pennsylvania, this is how it works.
I got the idea to buy a gun as more of a collector than  anything.  It was after Tomb Raider 2 came out.  I had to have that cool side arm.  After studying so many disarms in kung fu it seemed like to get the real feel about guns and how to know them and most of all respect them if that time should ever come, I should own one and learn it inside and out.  That thought combined with that movie sparked me to go about buying a legal handgun in pa.  It took me about a week to nail the exact gun model used in the movie.  Kids, this was 2003 and the Google machine wasn't as easy as it is today.  videos were still rented from a store and cable TV was static, meaning nothing was on demand.  You either watched it when it was on, or you missed it for 4 months.

Heckler & Koch USP Match

.....anyway, back to the story.  It was a costly choice.  The gun was a H&K USP match 9mm nickel plated. I found the last one of two left in the USA at the time, but settled for a black 45 cal version.  Because of the nature of the transaction, I bought the gun online and had it shipped to a local licensed private dealer.  I've also purchased the gun I have now which is a more modern version of that H&K at a gun store and it's the same basic process.  They verify your licence, you have to fill out the background check.  keep in mind you could lie on it, then they call in the information.  What happens next is the part most people don't understand.  The person at the PA gun licencing dept of the state police take the information you filled out on the form.  They compare it to things that verify you are who you say you are, they look to see if you have any warrants  or if you are not allowed to have a gun because you were in prison or have some formal probation which prohibits you from owning a gun.  If everything checks out, the dealer gives them the serial number of  the gun and they pass that info onto the federal ATF database that you own that gun.  The federal government keeps the records but the state government however is not allowed to keep those records more than 30 days.  After that they must destroy the records.
The problem with the form you fill out for the back round check is that there are a lot of questions about your health, mental health and or addictions  but the police phone call doesn't address those.  They only would if somehow the person already shows up as a criminal prior to trying to buy the gun.  So if a person has no criminal record but is documented as unsound, they can walk right out with a M15.  This is the problem. It's  not with gun control laws as much as it is a problem with HIPPA laws that protect a person's medical records over all other things.

Bottom line.  There is no reason a person should not have to wait 48 hours for a gun purchase which would allow the proper background checks.  If you need a gun right now, you probably don't need a gun.