“Pass it,” Louie Leynes, an employee at Bargain Pawn in North Las Vegas, told ThinkProgress. “It’s a good thing.”
Standing behind an assortment of new and used firearms, Leynes and two of his coworkers explained why they support the Nevada Background Check Initiative, which would require private gun sellers to conduct background checks through a licensed firearm dealer. Too many times, they said, they’ve seen potential customers at gun shows back away from Bargain Pawn when they found out they would be subject to a background check, and then head over to a private gun seller instead.
[Current law] definitely lets some people get away with buying guns when they shouldn’t.
“They’ll say ‘Oh, yeah, never mind,’ and then they go buy it from a private seller,” said Mitch Winters, also an employee at Bargain Pawn. “[Current law] definitely lets some people get away with buying guns when they shouldn’t.”
Right now, Nevada law requires background checks for all firearm sales, except when the sale is carried out by a private party. Gun control advocates call this the “gun show loophole,” as that’s where private sellers often do business.
The Nevada Background Check Initiative — scheduled to be on the ballot statewide in 2016 — would close that loophole. And theoretically, it should have a lot of support. A 2014 survey from Public Policy Polling found that expanding background checks is about as popular as pizza, with 78 percent of Nevadans in support. At the Las Vegas gun show on Sunday, gun rights attorney Donald J. Green agreed.
“Ninety-nine percent of people here probably support background checks,” he said, speaking behind his booth offering legal services to gun owners. Beside him, a camouflage-print poster listed his past successes helping people pass background checks and defend against gun-related lawsuits.
But Green also expects the 2016 ballot initiative to fail. “We have a pretty good lobby against it,” he added, glancing to the area where the local NRA chapter had set up a table.
The Nevada Firearms Coalition, designated by the NRA as the State Association for Nevada, is lobbying hard against it. In its latest newsletter, The Firing Line, the coalition called the proposal “a gun registration scheme in disguise.” The group’s affiliated PAC, Nevadans for State Gun Rights, calls the ballot initiative “complicated and unenforceable” and urges its members to “send a message that Bloomberg’s gun control agenda is not welcome in Nevada.”
“Don’t say you weren’t warned!” the group says. “The Bloomberg background check initiative will force the registration of firearms in not only Clark County, but all of Nevada.”
At the gun show, Green also consistently referred to the ballot initiative as “Bloomberg’s” agenda coming to Nevada. That’s likely because former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is an advocate of closing the background check exemption for private sellers, and has released ads urging president Obama to take executive action on the issue. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has also called for a federal policy expanding background check requirements to private gun sellers.
Gun show attendees had an almost universal dislike of Clinton. Green said his policy on the upcoming presidential election was “A.B.C. — Anything But Clinton.” A booth next to Green’s table sold T-shirts with the slogan “Hillary For Prison 2016.” Her proposed background check measure, however, did not seem to be the driving force behind much of that dislike.
“We’re cool with background checks, just not that cool on Hillary Clinton,” Winters said.
Their views on background checks, however, may align closer with Clinton’s than with her GOP rivals, who are scheduled to debate just a few miles away from gun show on Tuesday. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has put out a gun plan arguing explicitly against expanded background checks; Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has said the policy would not do anything to prevent gun violence; and former Governor Jeb Bush said the issue should be left to the states.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said Eddie D., a longtime Las Vegas resident who makes custom lasered Glock plates. But he added that it likely wouldn’t prevent all future mass shootings, noting that “those people will just break into a house and steal a gun.”
Green agreed. “It’s not gonna prevent [shootings], ma’am,” he said. “Let people carry, and you’ll stop San Bernardino. You’ll stop Virginia Tech.”
Data has proven, however, that background checks can help prevent gun violence. A 2009 study published in the Journal of Urban Health found that states with more expansive background check laws experienced 48 percent less gun trafficking; 38 percent fewer deaths of women shot by intimate partners; and 17 percent fewer firearms involved in aggravated assaults. In 2014, the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research found that Missouri’s murder rate increased 16 percent after the state repealed a law requiring all handgun purchasers to verify that they passed a background check.
And in 2015, the Center for American Progress found that states requiring background checks have lower levels of gun violence compared with states that do not require background checks.
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Override Gov. Christie's Dangerous Veto. Gov. Chris Christie should be ashamed. He vetoed a bipartisan domestic violence bill that would require convicted domestic abusers to turn in their guns -- a common-sense measure that would save women's lives.But thanks to supporters like you who spoke out, New Jersey Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto has publicly committed to trying to override the governor's veto.
The time to act is NOW. Tell your Assembly member to stand up to the Governor and override his dangerous veto.
Subject: Stand up for domestic abuse victims in New Jersey
Dear Assemblymember,
Governor Chris Christie was wrong to turn his back on victims of abuse and veto S2786 and A4218, legislation that would have kept guns out of the hands of dangerous abusers.
This bill passed with strong bipartisan support and was backed by 82 percent of New Jersey voters, including 78 percent of gun owners. Yet thanks to Gov. Christie, thousands of New Jersey victims of domestic violence are still not protected against abusers who obtained guns before a conviction or restraining order.
Thank you for sending this life-saving legislation to the Governor in the first place, but because of his veto, we need you to finish the job. I urge you to take this opportunity to once again stand up for New Jersey’s women and make this life-saving domestic violence bill a law.
Governor Chris Christie was wrong to turn his back on victims of abuse and veto S2786 and A4218, legislation that would have kept guns out of the hands of dangerous abusers.
This bill passed with strong bipartisan support and was backed by 82 percent of New Jersey voters, including 78 percent of gun owners. Yet thanks to Gov. Christie, thousands of New Jersey victims of domestic violence are still not protected against abusers who obtained guns before a conviction or restraining order.
Thank you for sending this life-saving legislation to the Governor in the first place, but because of his veto, we need you to finish the job. I urge you to take this opportunity to once again stand up for New Jersey’s women and make this life-saving domestic violence bill a law.
It’s absolutely astounding that
this is true, but it is:
Under federal law, a person on the FBI’s consolidated Terrorist Watchlist can walk into a store and buy handguns or assault-style rifles. Legally.
In fact, in the past decade, more than 2,000 suspected terrorists have successfully purchased guns.
We have a plan in the House right now to stop this. And it would have a good chance of passing if we could just move it forward. But Republicans in the House REFUSE to allow a vote.
It’s unconscionable that suspected terrorists have such easy access to firearms. Demand that Republicans in the House stop stalling and take action.
Most Republicans in the House are afraid of the NRA -- which came out against this plan to deny suspected terrorists the opportunity to buy a gun.
But in the face of recent tragedies, Republicans in Congress face a choice: Do what’s right for the American people, or do what’s right for the NRA.
For years, they’ve been choosing the NRA. It’s time they chose the American people instead.
Demand that Republicans allow action to STOP suspected terrorists from buying weapons. Add your name right now.
Thank you for your help.
Nancy
Under federal law, a person on the FBI’s consolidated Terrorist Watchlist can walk into a store and buy handguns or assault-style rifles. Legally.
In fact, in the past decade, more than 2,000 suspected terrorists have successfully purchased guns.
We have a plan in the House right now to stop this. And it would have a good chance of passing if we could just move it forward. But Republicans in the House REFUSE to allow a vote.
It’s unconscionable that suspected terrorists have such easy access to firearms. Demand that Republicans in the House stop stalling and take action.
Most Republicans in the House are afraid of the NRA -- which came out against this plan to deny suspected terrorists the opportunity to buy a gun.
But in the face of recent tragedies, Republicans in Congress face a choice: Do what’s right for the American people, or do what’s right for the NRA.
For years, they’ve been choosing the NRA. It’s time they chose the American people instead.
Demand that Republicans allow action to STOP suspected terrorists from buying weapons. Add your name right now.
Thank you for your help.
Nancy
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END THE BAN ON GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCHSince 1996, a NRA-backed bill has effectively barred the federal government from funding research into gun violence causes or prevention.
But before we can figure out how to solve this problem, it’s critical we understand it.
Call on Congress to lift the ban on gun violence research
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This was a big year for us. With your help, we defeated the NRA's extremist agenda in states across the country, we made gun violence a top issue in the presidential race, and we made orange the banner color of our growing movement.We couldn't have done it without you, and we need your help to keep it up. As we get ready for 2016, will you tell us what initiative is your top priority in the fight to end gun violence?
Thank you for taking a moment to weigh in on our plans for the year ahead.
The Sandy Hook shooting was three years ago today. Three years ago tomorrow, heartbroken and determined to protect the children, Shannon Watts started Moms Demand Action.
And this weekend was proof of just how far we've come.
More than ten thousand people attended over 100 Orange Walks in 43 states. Together, we delivered a rallying cry that stretched across the country: "We can end gun violence."
But to deliver on that promise, people like you need to step up and help get it done -- in every corner of the country, on the streets of every town and city.
Will you take that next step for this movement? Sign up here to get involved in the fight to end gun violence in YOUR community.
Three years after Sandy Hook, this is what our movement looks like:
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Our country's politics have always lagged behind its people. But this is what a tipping point looks like. This is the movement that will end gun violence in America.
Are you up for the challenge? Sign up to join the fight on the ground today.
Now more than ever, I truly believe we CAN end gun violence.
