In Case You Are Looking for Something To Do:

My feelings about gun control/policy are no secret.  Luckily, most of the people I know are reasonable enough to agree that an important next step in reducing gun violence is to support policies/laws that makes gun ownership/purchasing safer.  

Many of us have been frustrated by what feels like a lack of actionable options.  But there are currently two major Brady bills pending in Congress and you can do something!  

HR 1217 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1217) and HR 3411 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3411).  HR 1217 is well-sponsored, but HR 3411 has only 45 co-sponsors right now and is an extremely important bill as it would expand background checks to all gun sales.   

What you can do: Has your Member of Congress has co-sponsored H.R. 1217 (List of co-sponsors: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1217/cosponsors)? If they have, ask them to also co-sponsor H.R. 3411 (List of Co-sponsors: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3411/cosponsors). The Brady Campaign's goal is to reach 100 co-sponsors for this bill by December 14th -- the third anniversary of the Newtown shootings.


From the Brady Campaign

SUPPORT AND COSPONSOR H.R. 3411 TO FINISH THE JOB AND
EXPAND BRADY BACKGROUND CHECKS TO ALL GUN SALES
The Brady Campaign, united with the Million Mom March, strongly supports H.R. 3411:
the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2015, sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA).

WHAT H.R. 3411 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
• 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 2.4 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, in states 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.
Policy Fact Sheet