Issue Position: Gun Safety

Issue Position

The dramatic escalation of gun-related violence in the United States has seized the nation's attention, galvanizing a growing consensus of Americans, the President and members of Congress to call for comprehensive federal gun restrictions, particularly bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition. Recent statistics from the National Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. General Accounting Office illustrate the breadth of the social and economic impact of gun violence in our nation:

*Annually more than 100,000 persons in the U.S. are shot or injured by firearm injuries (3,000 are children).
*Guns were used in 11,078 homicides in the U.S. in 2010, comprising almost 35 percent of all gun deaths, and over 68 percent of all homicides.
*Children and young adults (24 years of age and under) constitute 38 percent of all firearm deaths and non-fatal injuries.
*Firearm-related deaths and injuries result in estimated medical costs of $2.3 billion each year -- half of which are borne by U.S. taxpayers.
*Once all the direct and indirect medical, legal and societal costs are factored together, the annual cost of gun violence in America amounts to $100 billion.

These statistics are not isolated aberrations. Locally, Chicago led the nation with 506 homicides in 2012, most of which were gun related. Last year, 319 Chicago Public School children were shot--24 were killed.

Vigorous enforcement of current laws and more effective gun legislation are needed to reduce gun violence. The guns and ammunition used in recent mass shootings were all legally purchased under current laws, including military-style assault weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition. This is the result of numerous gaps and loopholes in the existing patchwork of state and national gun legislation. A 1994 federal law that banned the sale of military-style assault rifles expired in 2004.

While the gun debate is traditionally framed as a "culture" battle between Second Amendment gun-owner rights and gun control advocates, an overwhelming majority of Americans supports measures that would require gun purchasers to undergo background checks, and bans on military-style assault weapons. Measures such as background checks are highly effective in preventing violence -- for example, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System has blocked more than 1.9 million permit application and gun sales to felons, seriously mentally ill individuals, drug abusers and other potentially violent persons.

Anthony Beale understands the staggering toll gun-related violence inflicts upon the quality of life in our communities. As 9th Ward Alderman, Beale is a leader in the Chicago City Council on public safety issues. Beale co-sponsored the Chicago Gun Ordinance that (a) bans assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, (b) limits to one per month the number of handguns a resident may register and prohibits having more than one operating handgun at any given time, (c) requires residents in homes with children to secure handguns in lock boxes or to secure the weapon with trigger locks, (d) prohibits gun ownership for residents convicted of violent offenses, domestic violence or two or more DUI convictions; (e) requires maintenance by the police department of a database of all registered firearm owners in the city with information available to emergency first responders; and (f) imposes mandatory fingerprinting and firearm training for all prospective gun owners.

As the 2nd Congressional District Representative, Anthony Beale would support President Obama's efforts to enact federal gun control legislation, and would aggressively pursue a common sense approach that strikes a reasonable balance between the 2nd Amendment rights of the Constitution and the compelling concerns of public safety. National legislation that would:

*Reinstate and strengthen the 1994 ban on the sale, transfer, importation or manufacturing of assault weapons;
*Ban large capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of firing more than 10 rounds;
*Require "grandfathered" weapons (weapons legally owned prior to passage of the legislation) be reregistered under the National Firearms Act;
*Close the "gun show loophole" that allows unlicensed sellers to sell guns without conducting a background check;
*Close the private sale loophole;
*Require the reporting of any firearm that is lost or stolen;
*Oppose national concealed carry reciprocity.

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