A background check also doesn't tell you much about a person's stability or rationality -- it really just tells you if they got caught doing something bad in the past, not if they are likely to do something bad in the future.

I agree with people who say that irresponsible people are the danger, and that if there were no irresponsible, irrational or violent people, guns wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, the world is, and has always been, chock full of irresponsible, irrational and violent people -- the only difference is that now they have ready access to technology that allows them to present a much greater danger to the rest of us than they used to. If somebody knows how to get rid of all the irresponsible, irrational and violent people, I wish he would enlighten the rest of us. Myself, I don't think it can be done -- so I'd suggest that we go with the second-best option, and get rid of the guns.