U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy joined 22 of their Democratic colleagues today in urging President Obama to use his executive power to eliminate a loophole that they assert allows individuals without a federal license to conduct gun sales at gun shows and over the internet without conducting background checks. Letter follows.
Mr. President:
We stand with you determined to take action to reduce the terrible epidemic of gun violence plaguing this nation. All across the country, communities are ravaged and lives are senselessly cut short by gun violence. Following yet another horrific mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, it is unthinkable that our country can continue to turn a blind eye to these tragedies.
We will continue to make every effort to build support for and demand a vote on legislation to improve background checks, close loopholes, and shut down the illegal pipeline of guns. We will not give up the fight to improve our nation’s gun laws to reflect the broad agreement of gun owners and non-gun owners who want Congress to act to halt gun violence.
We ask you, concurrently, to investigate and pursue all available options under your executive authority to reduce gun violence. Specifically, your administration could take an immediate step that would have an important impact on limiting gun violence. We urge you to address an aspect of the high-volume gun seller loophole that allows guns to be sold without a background check by eliminating the ambiguity surrounding the term “engaged in the business” as it pertains to federally licensed firearms dealers.
Under current law, only licensed gun dealers are required to perform background checks for all gun sales, and only those individuals deemed to be “engaged in the business” of dealing in guns are required to obtain a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). However, the regulatory definition of “engaged in the business,” needs clarification. Currently, individuals are able to sell guns at a high volume at gun shows, over the internet, or elsewhere without ever becoming licensed and, in turn, without being compelled to conduct a simple background check before completing a sale.
Updating the definition of “engaged in the business” to provide more explicit guidance as to which gun sellers are required to obtain a federal firearms license would not impact a father giving a gun to his son, or an individual selling his gun on the internet. But it will help ensure that individuals are not able to continue to exploit ambiguity in the current regulation and sell guns at a high volume without any oversight by ATF and without conducting background checks. This type of action is not without precedent, as many states have provided this type of explicit guidance regarding which vendors engaged in retail sales in the state are required to collect state sales tax. This change would be a positive step forward in achieving universal background checks, a policy change that roughly 90 percent of Americans support. It would help ensure that those clearly holding themselves out as gun dealers are held to the same standard as the thousands of responsible gun dealers already licensed with ATF across the country.
Thank you for your continued efforts to reduce gun violence and for your consideration of executive action that could save lives. We look forward to continuing to work together to prevent gun violence.
I’ve never seen a debate so backwards. And this come from the Democrats. They showcase mass shootings to advocate gun regulation that generally has nothing to do with the flood of guns in urban cities. They ignore the hundreds of street shootings and deaths daily across this country. Why aren’t the law enforcement authorities not in front of creating laws that will not allow someone to go to a gun show and buy hundreds of guns with no questions asked? Every cop has to know most if not all those guns end up in the streets they have to work in. SMH.
Murphy, such a putz. Another press release absolutely nobody will read or care about. And Blumenthal, someone check him for a pulse.
But seriously, these two senators are part of the legislative branch of government. Here they are crying, asking the executive branch (that’s the president for the low-information voter), to take its power in making the law and enforcing a law. I find it pathetic, especially Murphy, he looks like a used-car salesman.
It’s not clear the president has the executive authority to issue the order. Blumenthal, Murphy and other Democrats on Capitol Hill are trying to do an end-run around the National Rifle Association. Good luck. Wayne La Pierre and his squad of Type-A pro gun rights lobbyists will do everything in their power to keep every type of firearm available to every American, including terrorists and mental defectives.
*** IT’S TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING IN ORDER TO SAVE LIVES! ***
Hey Cougar! The Finch money wasn’t black, was it?