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9 Mar, 7 tweets, 3 min read
1/ Tomorrow, the House will vote to pass the American Rescue Plan & the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021.

This thread will explain how both of these measures can help reduce gun violence & build safer communities for us all.

Follow along...
2/ Covid has worsened America's gun violence crisis:

- gun sales⬆️ : @FBI processed 39.7M firearm background checks in 2020, the most of any year

- gun homicides ⬆️ : in over a dozen cities, homicides ⬆️ 50% or more in 2020

- gun suicides ⬆️

- armed political violence ⬆️
@FBI 3/ Why gun violence ⬆️ during Covid

-  pandemic worsened underlying conditions contributing to violence (mental health, employment, housing etc)

- community efforts to prevent retaliatory killings dulled by Covid

- ⬆️ in gun ownership (& ⬆️  in gun thefts)
@FBI 4/ Background checks are *foundational* for building safer communities

They prevent prohibited purchasers from buying guns in private sales & save lives. States w/ universal checks have 10% ⬇️ homicide rate, ⬇️ firearm suicide, ⬇️ gun trafficking
@FBI 5/ American Rescue Plan will help ⬇️ gun violence:

-  gun violence is correlated w/ poverty & inequality (increasing economic security reduces gun violence)
 
- American Rescue Plan will allow states & cities to spend relief money on evidence based violence reduction strategies
@FBI 6/ Cities are recognizing the link between increasing gun violence & Covid and using Covid relief $ to address the gun violence problem:

Baton Rouge has earmarked $2.5M in federal coronavirus relief funding to hire violence interrupters. theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/ne…
@FBI 7/ Our leaders should do more to encourage community based violence intervention efforts to send a signal that "stemming the spike in gun violence is a public safety priority, a racial justice priority and a public health priority"

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More from @igorvolsky

igorvolsky Profile picture
9 Mar
1/ Rep. @RichHudson (who got $20,850 from @NRA since 2012) appeared at the GOP leadership press conference this morning and spread a bunch of lies about the background check legislation (that the House will vote on tomorrow)

I'll break down his lies in this thread ...
@RichHudson @NRA 2/ Rep. @RichHudson CLAIMED: universal bchecks wouldn't "stop a single mass shooting in this country"

FACT: I made a list of some mass shootings where the shooter acquired a firearm through an unlicensed dealer: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…

(But yes, b-checks just 1st step)
@RichHudson @NRA 3/ Rep. @RichHudson CLAIMED: "The Republicans passed meaningful legislation" to reduce gun violence.

FACT: In 2020, the US experienced a historic spike in gun homicides, and suicides and political violence are all on the rise. Clearly more needs to be done...
Read 5 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
9 Mar
1/ The House is preparing to vote and pass universal background checks on Wednesday and so @NRA is sending out crazed alerts to its members filled with lies about the bills.

I'll break them their myths here, follow along if you're interested...
@NRA 2/ @NRA CLAIMS: “universal background checks will never be universal, because criminals do not comply with the law"

FACT: Since 1994, over 3 million people legally prohibited from possessing a gun have been stopped from purchasing a gun giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-…
@NRA 3/ @NRA CLAIMS: "H.R. 8 cannot be enforced without a federal gun registry"

FACT: Page 5 prohibits creation of a federal gun registry. (Requiring gun owners to register guns encourages accountability & helps solve crimes @NRA claims it'll lead to confiscation to sell memberships)
Read 8 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
2 Mar
1/ I'm excited to see the House introduce legislation to expand background checks to all firearm sales & close the dangerous Charleston Loophole.

These bills represent important foundational steps to building safer communities
2/ But any effort to reduce gun violence must be part of a comprehensive approach that invests in the communities closest to the pain of everyday gun violence, regulates the firearm industry, and ensures that firearms are harder to stockpile.
3/ On the campaign trail, @JoeBiden promised to prioritize a multifaceted approach toward reducing gun violence & given the historic ⬆️ in gun sales, the largest single one-year increase in homicides in 2020, & the growing threat of armed extremists, our leaders must act *now*
Read 5 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
26 Feb
1/ Great to see corporations help us fight Covid-19!

Businesses understand they have a responsibility to protect employees, customers and communities & defeat the pandemic.

But addressing the consequences of Covid also means addressing the Covid-related ⬆️ in gun violence...
2/ In 2020 US saw highest homicide spike on record 

In 2021, we've already had more gun deaths & injuries than this point last year

Truth is, the very companies helping us fight Covid are also directly impacted by gun violence....
3/ According to @everytown, total gun violence bill = $280B/year, including the $528.7M/year employers pay to cover costs of employee absence due to gun violence

That doesn't include costs associated w/ businesses *directly* experiencing gun violence

everytownresearch.org/report/the-eco….
Read 10 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
24 Feb
1/ As lawmakers in Congress work to raise the minimum wage to $15 to ensure that Americans earn a living wage, we must remember that paying people more could also *reduce crime and help build safer communities for us all*
2/ We've long known that investing in education, job opportunities, housing etc... has the effect of reducing violence -- particularly everyday gun violence.
3/ In 2016, Obama's Council Of Economic Advisers studied this question and found that “Higher wages for low-skilled workers reduce both property and violent crime, as well as crime among adolescents." obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/…
Read 9 tweets
igorvolsky Profile picture
16 Jan
BREAKING: A major donor to @NRA is poised to challenge key aspects of the gun group’s bankruptcy filing, in an attempt to hold executives accountable for allegedly having defrauded their members of millions of dollars to support their own lavish lifestyles theguardian.com/us-news/2021/j…
@NRA 2/ The donor, Dave Dell’Aquila, is preparing to lodge a complaint in bankruptcy court in Dallas. If successful, it could stop top NRA executives discharging a substantial portion of the organization's debts.

Many examples of leaders misusing funds here
@NRA 3/ Dell’Aquila’s complaint would use a provision of the bankruptcy code to prevent the NRA from sidestepping more than $60m of debt on grounds it was improperly incurred.
Read 4 tweets

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