Tag: Gun purchase loopholes

Gun control: Halting Steps

NO! The Assault Weapons Ban that expired 18 years ago has still not been renewed… but the bill which recently cleared the Senate does close some of the most egregious gun control loopholes.

The Boyfriend Loophole

The new bill bars anyone convicted of a domestic violence crime against someone they have a “continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with” from having a gun.  Previous statutes didn’t include intimate partners who may not live together, be married or share children.

The bill allows those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to restore their gun rights after five years if they have committed no other crimes.

The Charleston Loophole

Dealers have always been required conduct background check, but allowed to proceed with the sale of the buyer is not declined within three days.  The bill extends the background check waiting period for up to an additional 7 days.

The Gun Show Loophole

The bill also targets individuals who sell guns as primary sources of income but have previously evaded registering as Federally Licensed Firearm Dealers, requiring them to now administer background checks before they sell a gun.

The bill also:

  • Targets ‘straw buyers’ purchasing for individuals not allowed to buy for themselves.
  • Creates new federal statutes against gun trafficking.
  • Requires a more thorough reviews of buyers aged 18-21.
  • Increases funding for mental health programs and school security.

Fifteen Republican Senators voted for the bill (those retiring asterisked):

  • McConnell (KY)
  • Blunt (MO)*
  • Burr (NC)*
  • Capito (WV)
  • Cassidy (LA)
  • Collins (ME)
  • Cornyn (TX)
  • Ernst (IA)
  • Graham (SC)
  • Murkowski (AK)
  • Portman (OH)*
  • Romney (UT
  • Tillis (NC)
  • Toomey (PA)*
  • Toomey (PA)*
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Gun purchase loopholes

#1: THE BOYFRIEND LOOPHOLE

The National Domestic Violence Hotline says that:

  • More than 1 in 3 callers was threatened with a gun by their abuser.
  • More than 3/4 of domestic violence victims reported being stalked by an ex-partner.

Everytown for Gun Safety says that :

  • In 54% of incidents in which a current or former intimate partner or family was killed… the shooter killed four or more persons.
  • More than half of women killed with guns were murdered by family members or intimate partners of both sexes.
  • The risk of domestic violence ending in a female homicide is 500% higher when a gun is present in the house.

And while Federal law prevents individuals convicted of domestic violence crimes and/or abuse from buying and owning a gun under current federal law…

#2: THE CHARLESTON LOOPHOLE

The FBI typically returns results on a background check for a prospective gun buyer within minutes, but if the system returns no results within 3 business days, the sale relies solely on the seller’s discretion.

That was how the white supremacist shooter at Emmanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina obtained the firearm with which he assaulted a Bible study group in 2015, killing nine African Americans including state Senator Clementa Pinckney.

#3) THE GUN SHOW LOOPHOLE

The “gun show loophole” allows private sellers, including those done at gun shows, to forego a federal background check of the buyer.

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