Is It Really You?

Imagine going through life as a law-abiding American citizen only to find out that the system has you documented as a convicted felon for crimes you never committed or were convicted for. This happened to a father whose son was a juvenile (at the time) and was convicted and sentenced under his father’s social security number. Unbeknownst to the father and approximately twenty (20) years later, he decided to exercise his 2nd amendment right to purchase and bear firearms for protection. However, once a background check was administered, the system had him listed as a convicted felon and subsequently he was denied the right to purchase firearms.

Perhaps one might feel that this subject doesn’t pertain to them when on the contrary, every U.S. citizen is identified by their social security number. More than likely someone has the exact same name as yours therefore, citizens in the U.S. are identified by their social security number. The mere fact that this egregious and consequential error has occurred at least once, should be a matter of concern.

The harsh reality is that DNA and social security numbers identify American citizens. These two things are supposed to intertwine and mesh together in a way that identifies you solely and technology should assure that the system gets it right. U.S. citizens need to be aware of the possibility that their social security number could be linked or connected to acts that they have no knowledge of and definitively be able to answer the question “Is It Really You?”