Fixing the Background Check System to Prevent Violence Against Women

Fixing the Background

Check System to Prevent

Violence Against Women

February 2013

Mayors Against Illegal

Guns • Bipartisan coalition founded in 2006 by NYC

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston Mayor

Tom Menino

• More than 850 Mayors from 45 states

• 1.2 million grassroots supporters

• Largest gun violence prevention advocacy

organization in the U.S.

The Role of Guns in

Domestic Violence

• Women in the U.S. are 11 times more

likely to be murdered with guns than

women in other developed nations.

• The presence of a gun in DV situations

increases the risk of homicide for

women by 500 percent.

The Role of Guns in

Domestic Violence

• Over the past 25 years, more intimate

partner homicides in the U.S. have

been committed with guns than with all

other weapons combined.

A Large Share of Gun

Violence in America is

Domestic Violence

• More than half (54%) of women

murdered with guns in the U.S. in 2010

were killed by intimate partners or

family members.

A Large Share of Gun

Violence in America is

Domestic Violence • More than half of mass shootings

involve DV.

• In at least 32 of the 56 (57%) mass

shootings between Jan. 2009 and Jan.

2013, the shooter killed a current or

former intimate partner or family

member.

Federal Laws to Keep Guns

Out of the Hands of DV

Offenders • Federal law prohibits 3 categories DV

offenders from purchasing or

possessing firearms:

• (1) anyone convicted of a felony or a

crime punishable by one year

imprisonment

Federal Laws to Keep Guns

Out of the Hands of DV

Offenders • (2) anyone subject to a DV restraining

order

• (3) anyone convicted of a

“misdemeanor crime of domestic

violence”

Federal Laws to Keep Guns

Out of the Hands of DV

Offenders • Federal definitions:

• “intimate partner” excludes dating

partners

• MCDV definition slightly more

expansive to include those “similarly

situated”

Federal Laws to Keep Guns

Out of the Hands of DV

Offenders • Federal definitions:

• restraining orders must be issued

after actual notice and opportunity to

be heard

• MCDV offenders must have been

represented by counsel or knowingly

and intelligently waived right

States Laws to Keep Guns

Out of the Hands of DV

Offenders • State gun purchaser prohibition laws

• State definitions broader than federal

• States’ standards for carrying

concealed loaded weapons screen out

DV offenders

Background Checks Keep

Guns Out of DV Offenders’

Hands • Since 1999, the National Instant

Criminal Background Check System

(NICS) has blocked more than 2 million

attempted gun sales to prohibited

buyers

• DV prohibitions are second only to

felonies as a basis for NICS denials of

gun sales at licensed dealers.

Background Checks Keep

Guns Out of DV Offenders’

Hands

• Between 1998 and 2012, the FBI

denied 143,852 gun sales based on

MCDVs or restraining orders (15% of

total denials).

• This does not include the unknown total

number of attempted buys by DV

offenders stopped by state/local

agencies in 21 point-of-contact states.

But the Background

Check System is

Broken • The private sale loophole makes it easy

for dangerous domestic abusers to

avoid background checks and buy

guns.

• Unlicensed “private sellers”-- including

those at gun shows or online -- are not

required under federal law to run

background checks on buyers.

Criminals Can Exploit

the Private Sale

Loophole • In 2012, an estimated 6.6 million guns

were exchanged through private

transfers without a criminal background

check.

• That’s more guns than there are seats

in every major league sports stadium in

the U.S. combined.

The Private Sale

Loophole in the Digital

Age • The internet has created a vast virtual

gun show

• In Dec. 2012, there were more than

25,000 guns for sale on Armslist.com

alone. More than 90% of listings were

placed by private sellers.

The Private Sale

Loophole in the Digital

Age • In 2011, the City of New York

conducted an undercover investigation

of illegal online gun sales

• 62% of online private sellers were

willing to sell to someone who said he

probably couldn’t pass a background

check

The Private Sale

Loophole Leads to

Tragic Results • Zina Haughton’s murder in a mass

shooting in Brookfield, WI, in October

2012

• 80% of surveyed criminals incarcerated

for gun crimes got their guns through

private transfers

Records Missing from

NICS • Prohibited DV offenders might still pass

background checks at dealers if the

relevant records were not submitted to

NICS

• States appear to have difficulty

submitting criminal records of MCDVs

• It is difficult to evaluate state reporting

of protective orders to NICS

Background Checks

Save Women’s Lives

• The number of women shot to death by

an intimate partner is 38 percent lower

in states that closed the private sale

loophole for handguns.

Number of Women Murdered by

Intimate Partners Per Million Female

Residents

Solution: Fix Gun

Checks

• The Fix Gun Checks Act (H.R. 137) will:

• require a background check for every

gun sale, and

• make sure states and federal

agencies submit relevant DV records

to NICS

Solution: Fix Gun

Checks

• Private sellers would meet at licensed

dealers, who would run the checks

• Certain transfers (e.g. family gifts,

temporary loans for hunting or self-

defense) would be exempt

Americans Support

Background Checks

• 92% of Americans (NYT/CBS 2013)

• 82% of gun owners, including 74% of

NRA members (Luntz/MAIG 2012)

• Ten national police organizations

• More than 850 mayors

Legislative Update

• State of bill negotiations

• Key targets as of February/March

Let’s Make Congress

Fix Gun Checks

• Letters to Members (we have

templates!)

• Grassroots calls and emails

• District office meetings

• Op-eds and other media