Hope Amidst Heartbreak

It's been a tough past couple of weeks following the shootings in Buffalo, New York, Laguna Woods, California, and now Uvalde, Texas.

Prayer, reflection, and healing are essential - so is action.

As the gun debate heats back up, I'd like to highlight common ground backed by data.

Bottom line up front: 84% of Americans - right, left, moderate, those that own guns, and those that don't - support universal background checks.

What might surprise you: responsible gun owners in particular should feel as though universal background checks strengthen the 2nd amendment, not weaken it.

There are 10,000 ways we can disagree on guns, but there is 1 clear starting point.

Morning Consult and Politico conducted a survey back in March 2021 highlighting strong levels of support for universal background checks across all political parties.

Universal background checks would require background checks for everyone that buys a gun, including private sales online or at gun shows - 2 common loopholes used by bad actors.

84% of Americans agree that we should require background checks for all gun purchasers.

There is a bill, H.R.8, that seeks to make universal background checks the law across all 50 states.

H.R.8 was passed by the House on 2/27/2019. It was tabled by the Senate during the 116th Congress, but the House passed H.R.8 once more on 3/11/2021 (meaning that our sitting Senators can bring this to a vote in the current Congress.)

Here's the current makeup of the Senate: 50 Republicans, 48 Democrats, and 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats.

H.R.8 needs support from 60 Senators to overcome the filibuster and go to a vote.

Source of the graphic + more information on Morning Consult's survey research approach, technology, and methodology.

Does H.R.8 try to get rid of the 2nd amendment?

No.

Any notion of getting rid of the 2nd amendment empowers our representatives who do not take action. These representatives resort to tribal politics by stirring the base of an angry/upset few (i.e. using phrases such as "They're coming for your guns") in order to justify ignoring the many who believe in common-sense gun reform.

H.R.8 does not seek to take guns away from responsible gun owners.

Instead, the bill applies a stronger filter between those who should have the right to bear arms from those that shouldn't, a clear win for folks seeking to preserve their constitutional rights while preventing further tragedies like these.

If we communicate this clearly, gun owners, in particular, should feel as though H.R.8 strengthens the 2nd amendment.

This is the common ground we need to protect our communities and pass legislation that keeps weapons away from people that should not have them.

Action Steps

1. Read the most recent version of the bill here - takes 5 minutes.

2. Find the contact information for your Senators here, call them, and ask your Senators to bring H.R.8 to a vote.

3. Facilitate discussions with family and friends about what H.R.8 is and why it has strong support across political parties.

These action steps must immediately follow our thoughts and prayers.

We are not all going to agree 100% on the actions we should take, but H.R.8 is a dang good start at compromise.

We cannot become desensitized to this cycle. It is unacceptable.

Additional Context

The following section was added on Friday, May 27th - the day after initially publishing this piece. I am adding this section to address a couple of readers' concerns that internet and gun show loopholes do not exist. I had great conversations with both readers and wanted to provide a more detailed look into the loopholes themselves here.

tl;dr The Brady Law has a private sale loophole via the Firearms Owners' Protection Act. It has been expanded with the growth of the internet and large-scale gun shows, and there is direct evidence that people use these loopholes to acquire weapons that they shouldn't have.

The Brady Law was signed into law in ’93. It enacted federal background checks. This legislation led to the requirement that all Federal Firearms License (FFL) dealers must communicate with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) before completing the sale of a firearm. Since NICS officially launched in 1998, more than 300 million checks have been done, leading to more than 1.5 million denials (FBI).

Here’s where things get nuanced: there’s a law called the Firearms Owners' Protection Act from ’86 which poked what, in the '90s when Brady was implemented, was a small hole. It exempts "persons making occasional sales or selling all or part of a personal collection" from the need to obtain a federal license to sell firearms. This removes the private seller's legal obligation to perform a background check.

Made total sense to have this language in the '90s because it enabled the occasional family or friend transfer. What changed?

The internet got bigger, and so did gun shows.

What used to be a small loophole grew by the size/scale of the internet. Additionally, gun shows transitioned from flea market-sized operations to massive conventions. Now, you can claim this ambiguous exemption and facilitate a private sale to “a friend” that you meet online or at a gun show without performing a background check.

Okay, so it exists, but are these loopholes actually being used?

Internet Loophole - This 2019 NYT article details the story of Jody Lee Hunt, a convicted felon who should have been prohibited from buying a gun. Hunt purchased a gun through Facebook in a private sale. No background check was performed. He went on to murder 4 people before turning the gun on himself.

Gun Show Loophole - A 2009 GAO report indicated that organized crime uses this loophole to traffic arms. Most notably, these crime syndicates rely on large gun shows in the southwestern region of the United States to acquire their weapons.

Texans, in particular, often cite the need to protect themselves from organized crime along the border. In fact, 39% of the guns from organized crime syndicates were originally purchased in Texas (GAO report). Responsible gun owners and non-gun owners alike have a clear incentive to prevent these crime syndicates from gaining access to these guns via loopholes.

Where do we stand regarding current state legislation to close these 2 loopholes? 16 states and D.C. have enacted laws to require background checks for all gun sales, including private sales online and at gun shows. H.R.8 would make universal background checks apply to all 50 states.

Does closing these loopholes prevent the Uvalde gunman from acquiring his firearm/answer all questions around keeping our communities safe? No. But in the wake of reactions such as “we need to confiscate all guns" (which leads to partisan grandstanding and inaction), this is a clear compromise where we can keep guns away from bad actors and promote responsible gun ownership - a win for all parties acting in good faith and the original intent of this piece.

Thanks for reading

Victims, survivors, and victims' families/friends are counting on us.

Please read the bill, call your Senators, and tell your friends about H.R.8,

Josh