Subject: League of Women Voters backs gun control

http://www.lwv.org/where/promoting/guncontrol_read.html

Promoting Democracy in America
Read About Gun Control
The League’s Position

Read more about the League’s position on Gun Control.

The League’s History <guncontrol_read_pg2.html>

Read about the League’s history of study and action on Gun Control.

The League’s Position

Statement of Position on Gun Control, as Adopted by 1990 Convention and
Amended by the 1994 and 1998 Conventions:

The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that the
proliferation of handguns and semi-automatic assault weapons in the United
States is a major health and safety threat to its citizens. The League
supports strong federal measures to limit the accessibility and regulate
the
ownership of these weapons by private citizens. The League supports
regulating firearms for consumer safety.

The League supports licensing procedures for gun ownership by private
citizens to include a waiting period for background check, personal
identity
verification, gun safety education and annual license renewal. The license
fee should be adequate to bear the cost of education and verification.

The League supports a ban on “Saturday night specials,” enforcement of
strict penalties for the improper possession of and crimes committed with
handguns and assault weapons, and allocation of resources to better
regulate
and monitor gun dealers.

The League acknowledges that the U.S. Supreme Court and the lower federal
courts have ruled consistently that the Second Amendment confers a right to
keep and bear arms only in connection with service in a well-regulated
militia-known today as the National Guard.

http://www.lwv.org/takeaction/actalerts/042000_10618.html

<http://www.lwv.org/takeaction/actalerts/042000_10618.html>

Action Alerts
Grassroots Lobby Corps Action Alerts
Urgent Lobby Request #106-18
April 20, 2000

Call on Congress to Pass Sensible Gun Safety Measures

Today, April 20 is the first anniversary of the Columbine High School
massacre. Members of Congress have left Washington, DC and returned to
their
home states and districts for a spring recess without passing sensible gun
control legislation. Although the tragedy last year at Columbine focused
public attention on the terrible price we pay for having guns easily
available in our society, other tragedies since that time have made it
clear
that it is not unusual for young people to be killed or maimed with guns.
In
spite of the national outcry to end this senseless epidemic of gun
violence,
the leadership in both the House and the Senate have stalled progress on
effective new gun safety measures time and time again.

Tell your Representatives that Congress should no longer ignore the
American
public’s demand to close gun control-loopholes. Congress must act now to
require background checks on all firearm purchasers at gun shows, ban the
importation of large ammunition clips, keep handguns and assault weapons
out
of the hands of anyone under age 21 (unless appropriately supervised), and
require guns to be sold with safety devices such as trigger locks in order
to protect our children and the public!

ACTION NEEDED

1. Call or e-mail your Representatives. (Phone calls are more likely to
be effective.) Urge them to support the reasonable gun safety provisions
adopted by the Senate, especially the gun show measures. You can reach them
through either their district offices until May 2, 2000 or after that
through the Capitol Hill switchboard at 202-224-3121. You can locate your
Representatives’ e-mail address and/or website through the League’s website
at http://www.lwv.org/cgi-bin/congress.pl?cf=lwv/cong.cf
<http://www.lwv.org/cgi-bin/congress.pl?cf=lwv/cong.cf> .
2. Follow up with a quick letter to your Representatives urging them to
speak out for protecting our children. Urge them to stop the delay in
passing real gun controls.
3. Look for opportunities to meet with your Representatives while they
are in your/their home states and districts in order to ask them in person
to support gun safety measures.
4. Participate in the Million Mom March. On Mother’s Day, May 14,
thousands will gather on the national mall in Washington, DC to call on
Congress to pass sensible gun control legislation. If you cannot travel to
Washington, DC, participate in one of the numerous regional rallies that
will be taking place across the U.S. simultaneously. For more information
on
the national or regional marches, call toll free at 1-888-989-MOMS or go to
the website at www.millionmommarch.com . Contact Deanna Sessums, LWVUS
Grassroots Lobby Coordinator at DeannaS@l… if you are coming to the
Washington, DC rally.
5. Contact your grassroots network to generate calls and letters.
Activate phone trees and copy this alert to your e-mail address list with a
note asking them to take action as well.

THE MESSAGE

We have waited long enough! Congress must act now to enhance public safety
and protect our children by requiring real background checks on all firearm
purchasers at all gun shows, banning the import of large ammunition clips,
keeping handguns and assault weapons out of the hands of anyone under age
21
(unless appropriately supervised), and ensuring that all guns are equipped
with safety devices such as trigger locks.

BACKGROUND

Every day in America, 13 young people aged 19 and under are killed in gun
homicides, suicides and unintentional shootings. Gunshot wounds are the
second leading cause of death for people 10-34 years of age. For every
child
killed by a gun, four are wounded. According to one expert, “the firearm
injury epidemic, due largely to handgun injuries, is ten times larger than
the polio epidemic of the first half of this century.” Despite these
staggering statistics Congress has been unwilling to pass basic public
safety provisions to protect our children and the public from gun violence.

In May of 1999, eleven months ago, the Senate passed important new
legislation aimed at curbing gun violence by closing the worst of the
loopholes in current gun regulations. The Senate legislation mandates that
background checks be conducted on all gun show purchasers, whether they
obtain a firearm from a federally licensed gun dealer or from a private
seller, bans the importation of ammunition “clips” capable of holding more
than 10 bullets, makes it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to
purchase
or possess an assault weapon or handgun, and requires that all handguns
sold
in the U.S. come equipped with a trigger lock or similar safety device.

After action in the Senate, the NRA mobilized to urge lawmakers to drop
these common sense gun control provisions. Instead the NRA proposed
weakening these new measures and opening up new loopholes. In the end, none
of the provisions passed by the Senate survived in the NRA-led attack in
the
House.

The two versions of Juvenile Justice legislation, one containing the
sensible gun control provisions from the Senate and one silent on the issue
from the House, were sent last summer to a House-Senate conference
committee
tasked with reconciling the substantial differences. The conference
committee has met only briefly and has failed at this point to agree on
closing the gun control loopholes.

THE LOOPHOLES

So-called “private collectors” can sell guns without background checks at
gun shows and flea markets. The Brady law requires that federally licensed
gun dealers initiate and complete a background check before they sell a
firearm, whether the sale takes place at a gun store or at a gun show. No
such requirement extends to individuals who call themselves “private
collectors” at gun shows and other public venues. In most states, these
individuals are legally able to sell one, five, ten or twenty guns at gun
shows without conducting a background check or following any of the state’s
firearms sales laws. Recent studies have shown that gun shows have become a
significant source of guns for illegal users, including children. On April
24, 1999, federal investigators announced that the firearms used in the
Columbine High School shootings were most likely legally obtained in
private, unregulated sales.

It has been suggested that a 24-hour background check would be an
acceptable
“compromise” to the three business-day check currently in place for federal
dealers. (An incomplete background check allows the sale to proceed.
Therefore, the shorter period allows more guns to be sold to prohibited
purchasers.) According to the Justice Department, such a “compromise” would
allow 17,000 prohibited purchasers to get guns. It would expand, rather
than
close, the guns show loophole.

Current federal law prohibits ammunition clips that hold 10 or more bullets
if they are produced in this country. A loophole allows such clips to be
imported from other countries, and these clips are a major threat to
people’s health and safety.

Young adults aged 18-21 can legally purchase handguns. In most states,
juveniles of any age can purchase or be in possession of assault weapons.
Under federal law, young adults 18-21 cannot purchase handguns from
federally licensed dealers; however, a dangerous loophole allows them to
purchase handguns and even assault pistols in a “private” transaction from
any private individual, including the so-called “private collectors” who
sell many firearms at gun shows. Young men in this age bracket commit a
high
percentage of the nation’s violent crime but are still legally permitted to
buy the weapons most typically used in those crimes.

Gun manufacturers are not required to make guns that are safer and less
accessible to children and other unauthorized users. Manufacturers have the
ability, using existing technology, to make guns that cannot be used by
unauthorized users. Simple internal locking devices, including combination
locks, have been available for years, but manufacturers have not taken
advantage of even these simple, inexpensive devices. Guns are not regulated
for safety by the Consumer Product Safety Commission or any other federal
agency, making it the only unregulated consumer product in America today.
As
a result, many guns manufactured today lack even the most basic kind of
safety devices.

For additional background information on gun control, check the League’s
website at http://www.lwv.org/takeaction/106_2000_gun.html
<http://www.lwv.org/takeaction/106_2000_gun.html> .

You can find out how your members of Congress voted on the Patients’ Bill
of
Rights and other League Priority issues in the last session of congress at

http://www.lwv.org/takeaction/keyvotes.html

<http://www.lwv.org/takeaction/keyvotes.html> .

If you have questions or comments, please call Deanna Sessums, Grassroots
Lobby Coordinator, at the national office, 202-263-1328, or contact her by
e-mail at DeannaS@l… <mailto:DeannaS@l… .