The chart above (from Vox.com) is for those of you who still stubbornly insist the gun violence in this country is not of epidemic proportions. Note that the number of firearm deaths between 2001 & 2013 outnumbers the number of deaths from AIDS and from illegal drugs (both of which have been called epidemics) added to all military fatalities and all deaths from terrorism. Not an epidemic? No action needed? Don't be ridiculous!
There are more than 33,000 gun deaths each year in this country (murders, suicide, accidents). And if you just want to talk about mass shootings (defined as at least 4 people getting killed or wounded), those numbers are horrible also. In 2015, there have been 294 mass shootings -- more than the number of days so far in this year. Is it acceptable to have more than one mass shooting for every day in this country? It's not acceptable to me, and I don't believe it should be acceptable to any decent person in this country.
The Republicans don't want to face this problem. Jeb Bush says "stuff happens". Mike Huckabee says it's because of "sin". And the other GOP candidates just want to scapegoat the mentally ill. Those are all ridiculous assertions. No other developed country has anywhere near the level of gun violence that the United States has -- and the U.S. has no more "stuff", "sin", or mental illness than those countries have.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we all know what the problem really is -- there are too many guns of all kinds in our society, and it is too easy for dangerous people to get any kind of gun they want. Anyone who cares about the unnecessary killing of American citizens knows that we must take action to halt (or at least slow down) this awful epidemic of gun violence.
Thankfully, the Democrats running for president understand this problem -- and they want to take action to stop it. On Monday, Hillary Clinton (the leading Democratic candidate0 unveiled a bold plan of action to stop the gun violence. I think it's a very good plan -- especially closing the loopholes in the background check law, and keeping the domestic abusers from owning a gun.
Here's Clinton's plan (as described at hillaryclinton.com):
- Advocate for comprehensive federal background check legislation. Laws prohibiting dangerous individuals from buying guns are only as effective as our background check system is comprehensive. Background checks reduce gun trafficking, reduce the lethality of domestic violence, and reduce unlawful gun transfers to dangerous individuals. It is reprehensible that bipartisan legislation supporting background checks failed in Congress after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But Clinton is not giving up – she will continue to fight for legislation to build on the Brady bill’s success.
- Close the “Charleston Loophole.” Clinton will push Congress to close the “Charleston Loophole” that allows a gun sale to proceed without a completed background check if that check is not complete within three days. The alleged Charleston shooter had a federal criminal record but was able to purchase a gun precisely because of this loophole. This same loophole allowed over 2,500 prohibited gun purchases in 2014. Clinton will support congressional efforts to close the “Charleston Loophole” and provide sufficient time and resources to complete a background check before a sale is approved.
- Tighten the gun show and Internet sales loophole if Congress won’t. If Congress refuses to act, Clinton will take administrative action to require that any person attempting to sell a significant number of guns be deemed “in the business” of selling firearms. This would ensure that high-volume gun sellers are covered by the same common sense rules that apply to gun stores—including requiring background checks on gun sales.
- Repeal the gun industry’s unique immunity protection. The NRA lobbied Congress to pass the so-called “Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act,” a dangerous law which prevents victims of gun violence from holding negligent manufacturers and dealers accountable for violence perpetrated with their guns. It is past time to repeal this law and hold the gun industry accountable just like everyone else. Clinton voted against this law in 2005 and will lead the charge to repeal it as president.
- Revoke the licenses of bad-actor dealers. Clinton believes that because gun violence is the leading cause of death for black males aged 15-24 – responsible for more deaths than the nine other leading causes combined – we must do more to crack down on gun stores that flood our communities with illegal guns. Due to the NRA and their Republican allies, the agency responsible for ensuring gun dealers are following the law and keeping our communities safe has been underfunded and attacked. As a result, 58 percent of gun stores have not been inspected within the past five years. Further, while 38 percent of dealers that were inspected in 2011 were non-compliant with federal law, only 0.05 percent of inspected dealers had their licenses revoked. As president, Clinton will provide funding to increase inspections and aggressively enforce current law by revoking the licenses of dealers that knowingly supply straw purchasers and traffickers.
- Support legislation to prohibit all domestic abusers from buying and possessing guns. Women are 11 times more likely to be murdered with guns in the United States than women in other high-income countries, and more than half of them are murdered by intimate partners or family members. While federal law generally prohibits domestic abusers from purchasing or possessing guns, this protection does not apply to people in dating relationships or convicted stalkers. Clinton will fight for legislation to prohibit all of these domestic abusers and stalkers from buying guns.
- Make straw purchasing a federal crime. When an individual with a clean record buys a gun with the intention of giving it to a violent felon – only so that felon can avoid a background check – it should be a crime. Currently, “straw purchasing” is a paperwork violation. This needs to change.
- Improve existing law prohibiting persons suffering from severe mental illness from purchasing or possessing a gun. The ATF should finalize its rulemaking to close loopholes in our laws and clarify that people involuntarily committed to outpatient treatment, such as the Virginia Tech shooter, are prohibited from buying guns.
- Keep military-style weapons off our streets. Military-style assault weapons do not belong on our streets. They are a danger to law enforcement and to our communities. Clinton supports keeping assault weapons off our streets.
