To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
We need Congress to #HonorWithAction to #EndGunViolence!
December 14, 2017 is the five-year mark of the Sandy Hook tragedy when a gunman suffering from mental illness used an AR-15 with high capacity magazines to brutally murder 20 children and six educators. Since that horrific day, over 500,000 Americans have been killed or injured by guns and there have been more than 1,500 mass shooting incidents in America. The number of gun deaths has increased to 38,000 in 2016 and three of the five deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history have occurred within the last year.
Gun violence is a public health emergency and Congress has been complicit. Congress has offered up thoughts and prayers but it has failed to take action to end gun violence in America. Congress must find the courage to reject the corporate gun lobby to protect all Americans from gun violence.
It’s time for Congress to #HonorWithAction to #EndGunViolence by passing these common sense gun laws.
1. Background checks on sale of all guns
2. Close the Charleston loophole or “delayed denial” where federally licensed dealers can sell guns if three business days pass without a verdict from the FBI
3. Restrict and penalize firearm possession by or transfer to a person subject to a domestic violence protection order or a person (including dating partners) convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor
4. Prohibit firearm sale or transfer to and receipt or possession by an individual who has: (1) been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) received from any court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence. 5. Fix the National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS)
6. Mandatory waiting period for gun purchases
7. Gun violence restraining order/extreme risk protection order to temporarily prohibit an individual deemed by a judge to pose a danger to self or others, from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition and allow law enforcement to remove any firearms or ammunition already in the individual’s possession
8. Handgun permitting, licensing, training, and registration
9. Ban bump-fire stocks and other dangerous accessories
10. Ban future manufacture and sale of assault weapons, regulate existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act of 1934, and initiate a federal gun buyback program
11. Limits on high capacity magazines
12. Prohibit open carry
13. Make gun trafficking a federal crime
14. Repeal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to eliminate the corporate gun industry special protection from civil justice law that no other industry enjoys
15. Repeal Dickey Amendment to adequately fund government research on gun violence
16. Child access prevention/safe storage requirement
17. Provide resources for people with mental illness
18. Microstamped code on each bullet that links it to a specific gun
19. “Smart guns” with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or biometric recognition (fingerprint) capability
20. Limit gun purchases to one gun per month to reduce trafficking and straw purchases
21. Require licensing for ammunition dealers
22. Enhance accountability of federally licensed firearms dealers
23. Digitize the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) gun records
Gun violence is a public health emergency and Congress has been complicit. Congress has offered up thoughts and prayers but it has failed to take action to end gun violence in America. Congress must find the courage to reject the corporate gun lobby to protect all Americans from gun violence.
It’s time for Congress to #HonorWithAction to #EndGunViolence by passing these common sense gun laws.
1. Background checks on sale of all guns
2. Close the Charleston loophole or “delayed denial” where federally licensed dealers can sell guns if three business days pass without a verdict from the FBI
3. Restrict and penalize firearm possession by or transfer to a person subject to a domestic violence protection order or a person (including dating partners) convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor
4. Prohibit firearm sale or transfer to and receipt or possession by an individual who has: (1) been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) received from any court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence. 5. Fix the National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS)
6. Mandatory waiting period for gun purchases
7. Gun violence restraining order/extreme risk protection order to temporarily prohibit an individual deemed by a judge to pose a danger to self or others, from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition and allow law enforcement to remove any firearms or ammunition already in the individual’s possession
8. Handgun permitting, licensing, training, and registration
9. Ban bump-fire stocks and other dangerous accessories
10. Ban future manufacture and sale of assault weapons, regulate existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act of 1934, and initiate a federal gun buyback program
11. Limits on high capacity magazines
12. Prohibit open carry
13. Make gun trafficking a federal crime
14. Repeal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to eliminate the corporate gun industry special protection from civil justice law that no other industry enjoys
15. Repeal Dickey Amendment to adequately fund government research on gun violence
16. Child access prevention/safe storage requirement
17. Provide resources for people with mental illness
18. Microstamped code on each bullet that links it to a specific gun
19. “Smart guns” with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or biometric recognition (fingerprint) capability
20. Limit gun purchases to one gun per month to reduce trafficking and straw purchases
21. Require licensing for ammunition dealers
22. Enhance accountability of federally licensed firearms dealers
23. Digitize the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) gun records
Why is this important?
On December 14, 2012, a gunman with mental illness killed his mother in her bed then he drove down to the Sandy Hook Elementary School to brutally murder 20 innocent children and six educators with an AR-15 with high capacity magazines. Congress has only offered up thoughts and prayers and it has failed to take action. Therefore, during the anniversary month of the tragic shooting, the volunteer advocates from the Newtown Action Alliance have traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Congress and to hand-deliver coalition letters asking Congress to take action to #EndGunViolence in America. Once again, we will be joined by nearly 100 families and survivors directly impacted by gun violence from cities and towns across America on December 6th and 7th. Together, we will meet with Congress and hand-deliver our coalition letters to every Member of Congress. This year, we invite all Americans to #HonorWithAction by signing onto our coalition letters to Congress. Together, we can #DemandAction to #EndGunViolence in America.