ARS Applauds New Mexico’s House Judiciary Committee For Advancing Gun Background Checks Bill
February 10, 2017 — Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Navy combat veteran and NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, issued the below statement today applauding the New Mexico House Judiciary for advancing House Bill 50, which closes loopholes in New Mexico law that allows people to buy guns from unlicensed individual sellers, at gun shows, and online without undergoing a criminal background check.
Under current federal law, individuals must pass a criminal background check before they can buy a gun from a licensed firearm dealer. But many guns are sold without background checks at gun shows, online, and elsewhere. New Mexico law does not require background checks on these sales, which creates a loophole that allows criminals, domestic abusers, and other dangerous individuals to buy guns with no background check.
“Today, the New Mexico House Judiciary Committee stood up for common sense and for safer communities. We hope that leaders in the House do the responsible thing and follow suit by passing this critical legislation, which will make New Mexico a safer place to live by closing the loopholes that let dangerous people buy guns without a criminal background check,” said Robin Lloyd, Government Affairs Director, Americans for Responsible Solutions. “We look forward to continuing to engage our organization’s supporters in New Mexico to help advance this life-saving legislation forward.”
OVERVIEW OF BACKGROUND CHECKS & CURRENT NEW MEXICO LAW
Federal Law Requires Criminal Background Checks At Licensed Firearms Dealers, Not Online And At Gun Shows. In 1993, Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act into law, making background checks a requirement for federally licensed gun dealers and setting up the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), a system of databases maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Under federal law, certain categories of dangerous individuals, known as prohibited purchasers, such as convicted felons, domestic abusers and some dangerously mentally ill people are prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms. Under the Brady Act, when a person attempts to purchase a gun from a licensed dealer, the dealer runs a check through the NICS system to determine whether a potential buyer is prohibited from purchasing firearms. If information in NICS indicates that a person is prohibited from legally purchasing a firearm, the dealer must deny the sale.
New Mexico Law Doesn’t Require Unlicensed Sellers To Conduct A Background Check When Transferring the Gun To Another Person. Under current law in New Mexico, individuals must pass a background check before they can buy at a federally licensed firearm dealer. But New Mexico does not require background checks for private sales – which include sales conducted online and at gun shows.
Background Checks Are Quick and Effective – They’ve Blocked Over Two Million Potential Sales to Prohibited Purchasers. 91 percent of background checks are completed instantaneously and since the NICS system has been in place, over 196 million background checks have been conducted, and over two million firearms sales to prohibited purchasers have been denied.
New Mexicans Support Closing Loopholes in the Background Checks Laws. A recent poll of New Mexico voters found that a broad majority of New Mexicans favor closing New Mexico’s background check loophole. Among the survey’s findings: 87 percent of New Mexico voters support requiring background checks on all firearms sales, including 84% of gun owners and 78% of Republicans.
States With Background Checks Have Seen Public Safety Gains, Including Fewer Women And Law Enforcement Murdered With Guns. In states that require background checks for sales between unlicensed persons, 46 percent fewer women are shot to death by their intimate partners, there are 48 percent fewer firearms suicides and 48% fewer law enforcement officers are shot to death by handguns. When Missouri repealed its background check law in 2007 that required background checks on all handgun sales, gun homicides increased by 25 percent in the state.
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Founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) is committed to advancing commonsense change that makes communities safer from gun violence. Learn more at www.responsiblesolutions.org and at @Resp_Solutions.
Connect with Gabby Giffords, Mark Kelly, and ARS:
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