fixing the background check system to prevent violence against women
TRANSCRIPT
Fixing the Background
Check System to Prevent
Violence Against Women
February 2013
Mayors Against Illegal
Guns • Bipartisan coalition founded in 2006 by NYC
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor
Tom Menino
• More than 850 Mayors from 45 states
• 1.2 million grassroots supporters
• Largest gun violence prevention advocacy
organization in the U.S.
The Role of Guns in
Domestic Violence
• Women in the U.S. are 11 times more
likely to be murdered with guns than
women in other developed nations.
• The presence of a gun in DV situations
increases the risk of homicide for
women by 500 percent.
The Role of Guns in
Domestic Violence
• Over the past 25 years, more intimate
partner homicides in the U.S. have
been committed with guns than with all
other weapons combined.
A Large Share of Gun
Violence in America is
Domestic Violence
• More than half (54%) of women
murdered with guns in the U.S. in 2010
were killed by intimate partners or
family members.
A Large Share of Gun
Violence in America is
Domestic Violence • More than half of mass shootings
involve DV.
• In at least 32 of the 56 (57%) mass
shootings between Jan. 2009 and Jan.
2013, the shooter killed a current or
former intimate partner or family
member.
Federal Laws to Keep Guns
Out of the Hands of DV
Offenders • Federal law prohibits 3 categories DV
offenders from purchasing or
possessing firearms:
• (1) anyone convicted of a felony or a
crime punishable by one year
imprisonment
Federal Laws to Keep Guns
Out of the Hands of DV
Offenders • (2) anyone subject to a DV restraining
order
• (3) anyone convicted of a
“misdemeanor crime of domestic
violence”
Federal Laws to Keep Guns
Out of the Hands of DV
Offenders • Federal definitions:
• “intimate partner” excludes dating
partners
• MCDV definition slightly more
expansive to include those “similarly
situated”
Federal Laws to Keep Guns
Out of the Hands of DV
Offenders • Federal definitions:
• restraining orders must be issued
after actual notice and opportunity to
be heard
• MCDV offenders must have been
represented by counsel or knowingly
and intelligently waived right
States Laws to Keep Guns
Out of the Hands of DV
Offenders • State gun purchaser prohibition laws
• State definitions broader than federal
• States’ standards for carrying
concealed loaded weapons screen out
DV offenders
Background Checks Keep
Guns Out of DV Offenders’
Hands • Since 1999, the National Instant
Criminal Background Check System
(NICS) has blocked more than 2 million
attempted gun sales to prohibited
buyers
• DV prohibitions are second only to
felonies as a basis for NICS denials of
gun sales at licensed dealers.
Background Checks Keep
Guns Out of DV Offenders’
Hands
• Between 1998 and 2012, the FBI
denied 143,852 gun sales based on
MCDVs or restraining orders (15% of
total denials).
• This does not include the unknown total
number of attempted buys by DV
offenders stopped by state/local
agencies in 21 point-of-contact states.
But the Background
Check System is
Broken • The private sale loophole makes it easy
for dangerous domestic abusers to
avoid background checks and buy
guns.
• Unlicensed “private sellers”-- including
those at gun shows or online -- are not
required under federal law to run
background checks on buyers.
Criminals Can Exploit
the Private Sale
Loophole • In 2012, an estimated 6.6 million guns
were exchanged through private
transfers without a criminal background
check.
• That’s more guns than there are seats
in every major league sports stadium in
the U.S. combined.
The Private Sale
Loophole in the Digital
Age • The internet has created a vast virtual
gun show
• In Dec. 2012, there were more than
25,000 guns for sale on Armslist.com
alone. More than 90% of listings were
placed by private sellers.
The Private Sale
Loophole in the Digital
Age • In 2011, the City of New York
conducted an undercover investigation
of illegal online gun sales
• 62% of online private sellers were
willing to sell to someone who said he
probably couldn’t pass a background
check
The Private Sale
Loophole Leads to
Tragic Results • Zina Haughton’s murder in a mass
shooting in Brookfield, WI, in October
2012
• 80% of surveyed criminals incarcerated
for gun crimes got their guns through
private transfers
Records Missing from
NICS • Prohibited DV offenders might still pass
background checks at dealers if the
relevant records were not submitted to
NICS
• States appear to have difficulty
submitting criminal records of MCDVs
• It is difficult to evaluate state reporting
of protective orders to NICS
Background Checks
Save Women’s Lives
• The number of women shot to death by
an intimate partner is 38 percent lower
in states that closed the private sale
loophole for handguns.
Number of Women Murdered by
Intimate Partners Per Million Female
Residents
Solution: Fix Gun
Checks
• The Fix Gun Checks Act (H.R. 137) will:
• require a background check for every
gun sale, and
• make sure states and federal
agencies submit relevant DV records
to NICS
Solution: Fix Gun
Checks
• Private sellers would meet at licensed
dealers, who would run the checks
• Certain transfers (e.g. family gifts,
temporary loans for hunting or self-
defense) would be exempt
Americans Support
Background Checks
• 92% of Americans (NYT/CBS 2013)
• 82% of gun owners, including 74% of
NRA members (Luntz/MAIG 2012)
• Ten national police organizations
• More than 850 mayors
Legislative Update
• State of bill negotiations
• Key targets as of February/March
Let’s Make Congress
Fix Gun Checks
• Letters to Members (we have
templates!)
• Grassroots calls and emails
• District office meetings
• Op-eds and other media