Dear Jane,
Today, the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives will consider two bills that have serious implications for survivors’ safety.
One will make survivors safer. One undermines both survivor safety and public safety. As this email is going out to you, NNEDV is holding a press conference now in support of survivors' safety.
We support
the Fix NICS Act, introduced last week by Senators Cornyn (R-TX), Murphy (D-CT), Scott (R-SC) and Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representatives Cuellar (D-TX) and Culberson (R-TX), which would help prevent tragedies like the one in Sutherland Springs, TX earlier this month by improving the National Instant Criminal Records Background Check System (NICS).
We oppose
the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would allow individuals, including convicted abusers who are prohibited from getting a concealed carry permit in their home state, to simply cross the border into a state with weaker laws and get a license to conceal a firearm. Just imagine what this means for the victim of this abuser.
In the wake of two terrifying incidents earlier this month, less than 10 days apart, in which over 30 people lost their lives in senseless mass shootings perpetrated by domestic abusers, now is the time to finally fix our nation’s broken background check system.
It is not the time to set homicidal abusers up for success by weakening existing lifesaving protections.
Federal law currently prohibits convicted abusers and those under an order of protection for domestic violence from possessing a firearm. Unfortunately, lax implementation has undermined the background check system that would alert gun sellers to refuse the sale. No such flag was raised to prevent the Sutherland Springs, TX shooter from buying the weapon he used to murder 26 people.
A recent study found that at least 54% of mass shootings involve an intimate partner or a history of domestic abuse. To prevent mass killings, we must to take domestic violence seriously. We need to close gaps in federal legislation and implement existing law.
The Fix NICS Act
would hold accountable federal agencies that fail to upload relevant records, and would reward states that comply with their NICS implementation plans through federal grant preferences and incentives. It would create a domestic violence initiative to ensure that abusers’ records are entered into the system.
We resoundingly support this bill!
The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act forces states with strong concealed carry laws to honor permits from states with weak or non-existent concealed carry laws. Dangerous abusers would be able to legally cross state lines by using a concealed carry firearms permit from another state, and it would have to be recognized as valid in the state of travel.
We unequivocally oppose this bill.
Two bills with two very different outcomes for survivors and the safety of our communities.
Again, thank you for standing with survivors each and every time we have called upon you to act. Your voice matters.
Thank you!
For peace and safety,
Kim Gandy
NNEDV President & CEO
