ARS Releases New Digital Short “Explainer” on White House Action to Narrow Gun Law Loopholes
January 7, 2015 – Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS), the gun violence prevention group founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Navy combat veteran Captain Mark Kelly, today released a new “explainer” digital short titled “Big News, America” on the White House’s action announced this week to narrow loopholes in the federal gun background check system.
Watch “Big News, America” here.
The new video comes on the heels of yesterday’s release of a new television ad applauding this week’s White House executive action to reduce gun violence by immediately narrowing the loopholes that let people buy guns without a background check. The ad also highlights recent research showing that 73 percent of likely 2016 voters support an executive action by President Obama on background checks. The 30-second ad, titled “It’s Working,” will air on national cable for one week beginning Thursday, including before and after President Obama’s town hall on gun violence hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper on January 7th. Both Congresswoman Giffords and Captain Kelly will attend the town hall.
TRANSCRIPT: “BIG NEWS”
“Big news, America: Thanks to your call for commonsense change, President Obama has acted to close some of the loopholes in our laws that have let people buy guns without a criminal background check. It’s a commonsense change that will help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people and help prevent gun tragedies.
How did we get here?
In the aftermath of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, a bipartisan group of senators got together to introduce legislation to close the loopholes in our gun laws, so that many more gun sales would require a criminal background check. Nine in ten Americans supported it, and it got a majority of votes in the Senate. But a minority of senators filibustered the bill, stopping it in its tracks – exactly what the corporate gun lobby wanted.
Americans were outraged. We heard from thousands of you, and the message was clear: keep pushing ahead.
So we did – with a plan that we brought to the President of the United States.
The idea, which the President just announced, significantly narrows the gaps that let people buy guns with no questions asked at gun shows, online, and elsewhere.
It does this by saying no matter where you are, if you’re in the business of selling a firearms, you must conduct background checks on gun sales. It’s as simple as it is effective. Now, by clarifying the definition the definition of who qualifies as licensed dealer, if you’re selling a large number of guns, you’ve got to perform criminal background checks on your potential buyers.
Before the President acted, our laws were vague – and that created a problem. For example, if there was a person with a booth full of guns for sale at a gun show, it would certainly seem like that person should be conducting background checks. But the loopholes allowed that person to sell guns with no questions asked. Same thing with online sales: A person could sell dozens or hundreds of guns per year over the internet with no criminal background check. delete
President Obama has changed that. With this new policy, people engaged in the business of selling guns are going to have to conduct criminal background checks, just like at a gun store.
Let’s say, if you’re selling a large number of guns, potentially even more than just a couple; or doing things like printing business cards, accepting credit card payments, or selling guns you just bought – you’ll have to get licensed as a gun dealer and conduct checks.
The administration will also strengthen the background check system to address gaps that allowed a dangerous man to buy a gun and murder nine innocent people in a Charleston, South Carolina church
The expanded background checks policy will help stop dangerous people from buying guns, it will provide police and prosecutors the clarity they need to enforce the law, it will shrink illicit markets for illegal firearms and firearms trafficking, and it will benefit gun owners by leveling the playing field for responsible gun owners and dealers.
Gun violence is a complex problem and we can’t prevent every tragedy, but we do know background checks save lives. In states with background checks on all handgun sales, women are 46 percent less likely to be shot to death by their intimate partners, there are 48 percent fewer suicides and law enforcement are 48 percent less likely to be murdered with a gun.
This responsible change to our laws will make our communities safer places to live – and protect the rights of law-abiding Americans to buy guns. It’s just common sense.
With your help, we’ve achieved this victory for safer communities and we know that if you are with us, we can bring even more common sense to our nation’s gun laws.
Go to responsiblesolutions.org to find how you can get involved.”