WASHINGTON, D.C. October 25, 2017 -- Pride Fund to End Gun Violence – America’s only national LGBTQ political organization focused solely on gun violence prevention – announced today its support of Senator Chris Murphy’s newly introduced bill, the Background Check Expansion Act. Senator Murphy introduces this bill to require background checks on all gun sales and transfers, with certain reasonable exceptions.
Today, Pride Fund staff and volunteers will join Senator Murphy, and Senators Richard Blumenthal and Dick Durbin at 2 p.m. EST at the Senate Swamp to introduce the legislation.
“Pride Fund applauds Senator Murphy for his consistent and steadfast leadership to implement commonsense gun safety reforms. The senator is among Congress’s most devoted leaders when it comes to gun violence prevention. Pride Fund fully supports this bill as a pivotal step towards saving lives,” said Jason Lindsay, Pride Fund Executive Director. “As a Senator of Connecticut, where 20 students and 6 adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Senator Murphy is all too familiar with the horrors of mass shootings. Universal background checks are one of Pride Funds top priorities. Background checks must be conducted before every gun sale, and the gun show loophole must be closed as well. We wholeheartedly support Senator Murphy's Background Checks Expansion Act and stand shoulder to shoulder with him in this fight on behalf of the American people.”
More than 2 million people have been blocked from purchasing a gun after failing federal background checks since 1998. However, under current law, unlicensed or private sellers are not required to conduct a background check prior to transferring a firearm. Guns too often fall into dangerous hands and people are killed in what should be preventable tragedies.
Pride Fund to End Gun Violence commends the Senator for introducing the Background Check Expansion Act, which will undoubtedly save lives.
Bill Summary:
The Background Check Expansion Act will expand the federal background check requirement to include the sale or transfer of all firearms by private sellers, with certain reasonable exceptions. Research suggests that as many as a quarter of all gun sales in the United States may occur without a background check even though 90% of Americans support universal background checks.