The current disregard for the safety of ordinary Americans, including schoolchildren and their teachers, brings to mind my personal experience with background checks. I’m a family physician who has been required to have one prior to being hired at two different Caribbean medical schools. I was also required to have a background check and to purchase medical malpractice insurance in order to volunteer last fall in Mexican border clinics, sponsored by a U.S. nonprofit humanitarian medical organization. I am currently awaiting a faculty position at a U.S. medical school ... pending the results of another background check! I am also a gun owner ... no background check required.

Lauri Costello

Durango