SUPPORT AND COSPONSOR H.R. 3411 AND S. 2934 TO FINISH THE JOB AND EXPAND BRADY BACKGROUND CHECKS TO ALL GUN SALES

Policy Fact Sheet

The Brady Campaign, united with the Million Mom March, strongly supports H.R. 3411 and S. 2934, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

WHAT H.R. 3411/S. 2934 DOES

• Expands Brady background checks to all gun sales to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people like felons, fugitives and domestic abusers.

• Improves reporting of prohibited purchasers to the National Instant Check System (NICS).

• Requires federal agencies to certify that they have provided appropriate records to NICS.

• Incorporates and expands regulation about people determined to be adjudicated mentally ill.

• Requires gun owners to report their lost or stolen firearm(s) within 48 hours.

PROBLEMS SOLVED BY H.R. 3411 AND S. 2934

• As many as 40 percent of guns sold today in the U.S. are sold through unlicensed sellers, including at gun shows and online where Brady background checks are not legally required. For example, Armslist.com hosts 70,000 gun advertisements at any given time and many of the guns can be purchased without a background check.

• “Straw purchasers” and gun traffickers that supply guns to prohibited purchasers claim they lost possession of the gun, which would not work if a Brady background check was required for unlicensed sales and a lost or stolen gun had to be reported.

WHY OUR CAMPAIGN TO FINISH THE JOB

ON BACKGROUND CHECKS IS SO IMPORTANT

• Background checks keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people like felons, domestic abusers, and the severely mentally ill. According to FBI data, the Brady Law has blocked more than 2.6 million gun sales to prohibited people since it went into effect in 1994.

• Background checks result in fewer gun deaths. According to Everytown for Gun Safety research, instates with expanded background checks, 48 percent fewer law enforcement officers are killed with handguns; 46 percent fewer women are shot to death by intimate partners; and there are 48 percent fewer gun suicides.

• More than 90 percent of Americans support expanding Brady background checks.

CONGRESS IS LONG OVERDUE IN TAKING ACTION TO FINISH THE JOB.

                                                                                       

ARTHUR ADHE COURAGE AWARD 7/14/16

WASHINGTON - Tonight Zenobia Dobson will accept the ESPYs' Arthur Ashe Courage Award on behalf of her son, Zaevion Dobson. Dobson, a high school football star and community role model from Tennessee, died shielding three friends from gunfire in the midst of a random drive by shooting. The gunmen didn't know Zaevion, and he didn't know them. 

Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, issued the following statement.

"We thank the ESPYs for not only honoring Zaevion's life and heroism, but for shining a light on this critical issue. Enough is enough. We owe it to Zaevion and to the 90 Americans who are shot and killed every day to disarm hate and stop this senseless violence. Just being a kid on aThursday evening, Zaevion was put in a position that no teenager should ever have to be in - and he answered with instinctual courage and love. With his whole future ahead of him, he selflessly gave his life for others and became another victim of America's gun violence crisis.

"As a nation we've allowed an epidemic of gun violence, one that kills 90 Americans a day and disproportionately ravages communities of color, to fester unchecked. Our policymakers simply haven’t done enough to keep guns out of dangerous hands and protect the American people.

"If there is any solace to be found in the loss of a life so young and full of promise, it is that Zaevion died a hero so that his friends might live. Like the officers in Dallas, and at the age of 15, he ran toward the sound of gunfire. And so long as politicians fail to act on gun violence, heroes like Zaevion Dobson will continue to be called upon to do the extraordinary things that keep the rest of us safe."

The Arthur Ashe is awarded for the most significant or compelling humanitarian contribution in transcendence of sports in a given year. Dobson was fifteen years old at the time of his 2015 death. He'd have just turned sixteen last month. 

Past recipients of the Arthur Ashe include Caitlyn Jenner, Muhammed Ali, Jimmy Valvano, and passengers of United flight 93.

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