Email the House Judiciary Committee Today.
We have an action item for you this morning: can you all please take some time today to email or call the members of the State House Judiciary Committee (their email addresses are below) and ask them all, whether they are a Democrat or a Republican, to support the Criminal Background Check Bill, or House Bill 35. At the last hearing on this bill, our side was severely outgunned in terms of vocal support, as the hearning room was full of NRA members and other pro-gun advocates who wrongly believe that any regulation on guns amounts to a violation of their Second Amendment rights.
If these members just rely on what they heard at the Hearing two weeks ago, they would think that 90% of all Americans and Delawareans oppose this bill, when in fact it is the opposite. The vast majority of all Americans and Delawareans support this common sense regulation to make sure that guns do not get into the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
Right now, federal law requires federally licensed firearms dealers to perform criminal history background checks on prospective firearms purchasers. However, when the sale or transfer of a firearm does not involve a licensed dealer, no background check is required. This loophole is how convicted felons, those with mental illnesses, minors and other prohibited purchasers get their guns. One step we as a community and a state can take to make sure that tragedies like Newtown, Aurora, Tuscon, and Virginia Tech never happen again is to make sure that everyone who buys a gun is subjected to background checks.
Many who opposed this bill at last week’s hearing were concerned about private party sales between family members and among gun collectors. This bill already provides for exceptions for such private party transactions where the buyer or transferee is a member of the seller or transferor’s immediate family (parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling or spouse); and (2) involving antique firearms and certain replicas thereof.
And for those who scream that this bill infringes on their Second Amendment right to bear arms, perhaps they need to be reminded that Amendment also calls for a “well regulated militia.” With the current law having a loophole so big that criminals, the mentally ill and minors can buy guns at any time without background checks, it can hardly be said that what we have in Delaware or across the country is well regulated.
The plain truth of the matter is that this bill does not infringe on the liberty of responsible gun owners, hunters and anyone who is legally permitted to own a gun. It seeks only to prevent those who are legally not permitted from purchasing a gun from purchasing a gun. How any responsible citizen or gun owner can rise in opposition to that principle is beyond our understanding.
Here is the contact information:
Rebecca Walker 302-744-4351; Rebecca.Walker@state.de.us
Melanie George Smith 302-744-4351; melanie.g.smith@state.de.us
Gerald L. Brady 302-744-4351; Gerald.Brady@state.de.us
James Johnson 302- 744-4351; jj.johnson@state.de.us
John L. Mitchell Jr. 302-744-4351; john.l.mitchell@state.de.us
W. Charles Paradee 302-744-4033; trey.paradee@state.de.us
Charles Potter Jr. 302–744-4351; Charles.potter@state.de.us
Darryl M. Scott 302-744-4351; Darryl.Scott@state.de.us
Stephen T. Smyk 302-744-4321; Steve.Smyk@state.de.us
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman 302-744-4171; jeff.spiegelman@state.de.us
David L. Wilson 302-744-4150; David.L.Wilson@state.de.us
There is also another hearing on this bill tomorrow at 11:30 am in the House Chamber. If you can be there, be there!
Not to burst your bubble to bad, but really? I mourn the tragic losses but this legislation is targetting the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
The people not allowed to own firearms are allready criminals, with the exception of the mentally challenged or impaired. We should be takeing steps to add those with mental illness to a list, and agressively punishing those that seek to purchase when allready prohibited, and spanking the beegeezus out of them when someone prohibited is found to be in possesion.
Criminals will allways find a way to circumvent the law, no matter how many you pass. Tis the definition of being a criminal, lawless. A person who holds to no law.
Allow me to call BULLSHIT on waterpirate’s comment. This bill is targeting EXACTLY who should be targeted.
Criminals cannot go to a gun shop to buy a gun BECAUSE there is a background check. The next, easiest way to buy a gun for a criminal would be to buy one privately, maybe something listed in The Guide or on Craigslist. If private sales require a background check, then criminals cannot simply buy a gun from their clueless friend or neighbor or from an ad.
The assumption that every criminal can magically find an illegal arms dealer is ridiculous.
Pass the fucking bill, make it HARDER for criminals to get guns.
Straight to the four letter words are we??? Requireing a back ground check for private sales only adds another layer of a allready failed approach. Do you really believe that gun sales will magically become legit if a background check is required? How many pistol crimes are committed in DE every year with weapons that were purchased in the guide or on the net? Noone really knows, but what we do know is that criminals have illegal guns. Either they are stolen or purchased through a straw buyer, and transported accrossed state lines. The only way to get tuff on illegal guns is to punish the beegeezus out of people with them untill the consequences become so grave for them it serves as a detterant. IMHO nothing will ever curb the most hardened of criminal, so it is a wash anyway.
Again I mourn the loss of life, but lets do something with teeth that actually would work, not make everyone feel good and sing coom by ya(sp) as the law abideing citizens are punished by the actions of those who have, and know no law.
The reason to contact the committee members can be seen in waterpirate’s comments above. The NRA trolls don’t WANT you to contact them. They are being bombarded with hundreds of anti-gun control messages solicited through the NRA’s action alerts.
The votes are there for this bill. The only thing that can stop it is if its supporters fail to demand courage from their elected officials.
Those officials know what the polls say. Support for many of these measures is overwhelming. But they get weak in the knees, and not in a good way, when faced with hundreds of NRA messages.
Call ’em and tell ’em that you’ve got their back. And not in a target practice sort-of way.
And if you need some inspiration, just know that the majority of Delawareans are for the measures proposed by the Governor — the Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence released a poll today saying that even majority of GOP Delawareans support these.
If you see more of this poll’s data, post it up!
the poll consisted of 600 people contacted out of 900000+ people in the state dcagvs claims were proven to be misleading to say the least several people opposed to the gun bills contacted the firm that conducted the poll and were provided written statements that only 600 people were contacted when the poll was conducted for dcagv the teachers union claim was just as misleading less than 200 teachers staff statewide were contacted for their official poll they spoke about at the committee meeting on hb35
“the poll consisted of 600 people contacted out of 900000+ people in the state”
Yes, because that’s the way polling works. You don’t get to call the pollster and tell them you want to be polled.
You gun nuts really don’t get how unpopular you are.