Kathryn...
The problem with "criminal background checks" as they relate to firearm purchases, is that the process is simply a FRAUD! It is a fraud for many obvious reasons ( check out
www.nralive.com ). If you feel that the word "FRAUD" is unfair, let me illustrate by showing the definition; Fraud...A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
The deception is that it is described as a mechanism to "protect the public" by performing an "instant" FBI background check on the individual who is attempting to buy a firearm from an FFL dealer. This sounds respectable, and as such, most people that aren't aware of the deception, buy into the idea. Your stated question is proof that people believe that background checks are good things. That's the deception. The reality however, and therefore the "unlawful gain" is that the alledged "backgound check" actually performs a completely different (unpublicized) function...it performs a registration of the purchaser's firearm. And that is the fraud! And that is ILLEGAL.
The clammer about background checks at gun shows (in the media today) is an even bigger FRAUD. Since the deception makes people believe that firearm purchasers at gun shows do not have to submit to the background checks at all... that more legislation (more government control of our lives) is needed to close this "loophole". The fact is, all FFL dealers who sell firearms at gun shows, follow the exact same process of NICS/4473 as they do from their stores, no exceptions...none! All sales of firearms become registered in federal government computers. That is the FRAUD!
The reality is, that since many private individuals like you and I can buy and sell firearms between one another without submitting to the NICS/4473 fraud, at gun shows (or anywhere else for that matter), an all out attack has been waged against private sales at gun shows (since this is the biggest forum for possible private sales). But of course the fraudulent media doesn't exactly tell you the story in those terms. They don't tell you that the reason this attack is waged is because those private sales DO NOT get REGISTERED!!! Therefore, the fraud is exposed to sunlight when you realize that it's not criminals they're after, its law abiding good folks like you and I. They want ALL firearms in the registry, not just the ones sold through FFL dealers, ALL OF THEM!