Giffords Reacts to Governor Ducey’s Proposal to Address Gun Violence and School Safety
March 21, 2018 — Giffords, the gun safety organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly, released the following statement reacting to the proposal announced by Governor Ducey to address gun violence and school safety in Arizona.
Peter Ambler, Giffords Executive Director:
“We are glad to see that Governor Ducey recognizes the need to find bipartisan solutions that will help address the epidemic of gun violence in this country. However, this proposal does not yet accomplish what is needed to have a significant impact and protect Arizona families and communities from gun violence. The Governor’s proposal currently provides a number of smaller fixes that will help improve Arizona’s current systems, but lacks substantive policies that would help keep guns out of dangerous hands. For example, the package fails to close loopholes that allow criminals and other dangerous people to buy guns without a background check, and it fails to provide families and law enforcement effective, proven tools to get guns out of the hands of individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others. We have shared our policy concerns and suggestions with the Governor, and we are optimistic that we can continue to work together to enhance this proposal so that it includes effective measures that will save lives, including a true extreme risk protection order and expanded background checks.”
Important policies that could help prevent the next mass shooting in Arizona, include:
- Extreme Risk Protection Orders: Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws enable law enforcement and families to petition a court for a temporary order prohibiting a person from purchasing or possessing firearms. These orders are sought when a person demonstrates behaviors that indicate pose a significant danger to themselves or others. ERPO laws are exactly the type of policy that could help people struggling in crisis, including the shooter in Parkland, Florida, as the shooter’s classmates, teachers, family members, and law enforcement officers appear to have been aware that he was exhibiting dangerous behaviors. For more information please contact us at press@giffords.org.
- Expanding Background Checks: There is no gap more glaring in our gun laws than the federal background checks law, which allows felons, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill to purchase firearms at gun shows and online without undergoing a background check. In states that require background checks for all handgun sales 47% fewer women are shot to death by their intimate partners, there are 47% fewer firearm suicides, and 53% fewer law enforcement officers are shot to death by handguns.
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