ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — In the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton this past weekend, the conversation about gun legislation has returned to examining some familiar strategies, including strengthening background checks for would-be gun owners. 

Some Central Florida municipalities already take background checks for gun sales seriously, and the shootings still happen.

So will strengthening background checks in more Florida localities be enough to effectively curtail the violence?

Currently, Florida residents who want to buy a firearm at a legally licensed store must go through a background check.

Joshua Stubenhofer, a manager at Shoot Straight in Apopka, said they take gun ownership very seriously.

“Everyone who comes through here is indeed getting a background check,” he said.

That background check begins with the potential purchaser filling out a form: a firearm transaction record. That form has several disqualifying questions on it that could stop the process before the background check even starts.

“In the event that they answer one of these questions in a certain way, we will cancel the purchase and not let it go through,” Stubenhofer said.

Some of those questions include: "Have you been dishonorably discharged from the military?" and "Have you ever been committed to a mental institution?"

How the loopholes work

But former law enforcement officer and firearms instructor George Munsen says there are ways to get around those background checks.

“They’ll buy it through a private individual, or they’ll go to a gun show,” Munsen said.

In Florida, sales of guns between two private people or at gun shows do not require background checks.

Orange County, however, does require background checks for gun sales at shows.

Munsen says some states, not including Florida, have expanded their background check laws to include private sales. But people can always be dishonest on the form.

Also, they might not have a felony record but still want to do harm.

That’s why Stubenhofer says their staff is trained to look for warning signs.

“Comments that they make that might be inappropriate are considerable red flags for us," he said. "Just like it seems like there might be some intent to misuse the product or to use it for unlawful purposes."

The U.S. House has already passed bills that would extend the background check waiting period from three to 10 days and also close the so-called “Charleston loophole” by putting restrictions in place on transfers of firearms between private individuals. Those bills, however, have not been taken up for votes in the U.S. Senate.