Issue:
Two pieces of legislation regarding background checks have passed in the house with bipartisan support. The Senate has thus far refused to take action on these bills.
Action:
Contact Senator Graham and Senator Scott and tell them to support passage of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 and the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019.
For Senator Graham, click here.
For Senator Scott, click here.
Background:
In response to the recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, more than 200 mayors sent a letter to Senate leaders on August 8 calling on the Senate to take up action on bipartisan gun safety legislation. The letter specifically calls for passage of two background check bills that have passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support:
The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 8)
The Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019 (H.R. 1112)
Read the mayors’ letter here.
The mayors note there have been more than 250 mass shootings in the U.S. this year. (There is no standard definition of “mass shooting”.) Yet in 2016 mass shooting deaths represented less than 2 percent of all gun deaths in the U.S., 451 of nearly 39,000 overall gun deaths. (source: https://www.vox.com/a/mass-shootings-america-sandy-hook-gun-violence). While mass shootings get most of the attention, gun deaths generally are an epidemic in the U.S.
Studies have linked stricter gun laws to fewer gun deaths. But the U.S. has the weakest gun laws in the developed world. We need stricter gun laws, starting with more rigorous background checks. Polls have shown that voters nearly unanimously support laws requiring universal background checks during firearm sales, including 90 percent of Republicans.
SIAN Contact: Dick Wildermann
SIAN Email: seaislandsactionnetwork@gmail.com
Sea Islands Action Network 