Call for Action
We are urging the public to join us in working to get 2 important bills passed in Congress. We need your help!
H.R. 8 and S. 529
Yearly more than 124,000 Americans are victims of gun violence and more than 35,000 are killed.
The current background check law requires all Federal Firearms Licensed dealers to initiate a background check before selling a firearm. But approximately 1 in every 5 sales are conducted without a background check today (at gun shows, through private transactions and on websites) . This allows prohibited people to acquire guns, including felons and domestic abusers. Over the past decade 1 in 3 mass shooters were legally prohibited from possessing firearms.
These bills will expand the current Brady Background Check Law to every sale or transfer in private sales, subject to few narrow exceptions. This bill was passed by the House in 2019, but Sen. Mc Connell refused to bring it up in the Senate. Its passage in both Houses is long overdue.
Background checks work. An average of 397 prohibited purchasers were blocked from buying guns every single day when the law was used by Federal Firearms Licensed dealers. It needs to be extended to all sales and transfers!
H. R. 1446
In the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. in 2015, 9 innocent people were killed. This tragedy exposed a weakness in the current background check law, now called the “Charleston loophole.” If the FBI does not complete the background check in 3 days, the dealer is allowed to transfer the gun anyway. Often the delay occurs because there ARE problems and the FBI needs more time to access the disqualifying records.
This bill would extend the time period to 10 days, and after that time, a purchaser my petition an expedited review. This petition requires the review be completed in 10 additional days. If a petition is not filed the purchaser must wait until the review is completed before transferal matter how long the review takes.
96% of background checks are processed within 3 business days, many with instant verdicts. Currently, those purchases made through the “Charleston loophole” are 8 times more likely to involve profited purchasers, allowing convicted felons, domestic abusers and fugitives from justice to access guns.
How to help pass these bills:
Text “checks” to 877877. This will connect you with your legislators. As them to support H.R. 8 (S. 529) and H.R. 1446,