Thread by @RepMaloney

A few months ago, I read this and wondered, how in the world did this guy buy 34 guns despite a court order?

Did he get them at a gun show? Did the background check take more than 3 biz days, allowing the purchase?

Nope. He found a loophole.

🧵on my new bill to prevent this

The thought of an insurrectionist amassing this kind of arsenal was troubling, to say the least. So I asked my staff to look into it and see if there were any laws on the books that weren't being enforced or proposals we could sign onto to address this.

We couldn't find any. 2/

Federal law requires gun sellers to conduct a background check before completing a gun sale but doesn't prohibit the sale of guns to people who are prohibited from purchasing guns as a condition of a pretrial release court order. 3/

In short, a judge could order you not to have guns, but that wouldn't necessarily show up on a background check.

Instead of being proactive in keeping guns away from dangerous individuals, the current law is reactive. 4/

And although this started with January 6 in mind, I quickly realized how this could apply to dangerous individuals accused of crimes like murder, sexual assault, and domestic violence.

Imagine a domestic abuser being able to buy a gun after a judge prohibits it. 5/

I got to work and reached out to orgs & advocates like @GiffordsCourage, @bradybuzz, @NewtownAction, @VPCinfo, @Everytown @CJACTIONFUND, @sandyhook, @GAGnoguns, @fred_guttenberg, and more to write a new law to prevent those LEGALLY ORDERED NOT TO HAVE guns from getting them. 6/

Today, I'm releasing the #PreventingPretrialGunPurchases Act with 25 original cosponsors and 41 endorsing organizations to honor the victims of gun violence by strengthening our background check system. #HonorWithAction #EndGunViolence 7/

The #PreventingPretrialGunPurchases Act does 3 basic things:

1. Amends federal gun laws to deny gun sales to any person subject to a pretrial release order from a court that prohibits the person from purchasing, possessing, or receiving guns.

8/

2. Prohibits any person from knowingly selling or disposing of a gun to these individuals.

3. Authorizes $25 million in additional funding for the next 5 years for states to report pretrial orders involving gun restrictions to the national background check system.

9/

We need commonsense gun laws like this and the package of bills I released last year to combat the gun epidemic and turn the tide against the rising rates of gun violence.

10/10

https://twitter.com/RepMaloney/status/1359643174407462916?s=20&t=xXmtBAQeda-JbW1AKHZxEw