Davis / 1 Senator Giannini

S. R____

A BILL
To require special federal licences for firearms with in depth background checks before any person is to own a
weapon in the United States of America.
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Advanced Gun Requirement Act of 2016.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) Even the most casual and passing familiarity with this literature is therefore sufficient to
believe the contention that handguns have `no legitimate sport or recreational use.'
2) Gun shows and the lack of uniform gun-control laws provide easy access to guns that can
be used for criminal purposes, according to a new report from the UC Davis Violence
Prevention Research Program.
3) Because our federal gun laws are so weak, states can play a critical role by adopting laws
to protect communities from gun violence.
4) The effects of gun control laws have been extensive and far-reaching though they dont
altogether deter people from acquiring a firearm.
5) A year after the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown,
Connecticut, which took 26 lives, including those of 20 children, we have not become any
safer in ordinary places - and the national conversation about gun control has not drilled
down nearly deep enough.
6) Over the past decade in America, more than 100,000 people have been killed as a result
of gun violenceand millions more have been the victim of assaults, robberies, and other
crimes involving a gun.
7) A new study released by the University of Pittsburgh finds that nearly 8 in 10 gun crimes
are committed with illegally-possessed guns. The findings are summarized in this
Washington Post headline: New Evidence Confirms what Gun Rights Advocates Have Said
for a Long Time about Crime.
8) States with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest drops in violent
crimes. Thirty-one states now have such lawscalled shall-issue laws. These laws allow
adults the right to carry concealed handguns if they do not have a criminal record or a
history of significant mental illness.
9) Advocates also fail to mention the benefit that guns can have when used for self defense.
According to the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, guns are used by civilians roughly
990,000 times per year to defend themselves against crimes.
10) The second Amendment of the U.S. constitution states a well- regulated militia, being
necessary to the security of a free state, the right of people to keep and bear arms, shall not
be infringed.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) This bill will enforce strict gun laws before the ownership of a gun is permitted. Making sure that the people
trying to purchase the Firearm are qualified and will be safe with the weapon.
B) This bill will be funded by the United States Department of defense in hope of keeping the United States safer
from illegal gun crime. Enforcing Firearm owners to purchase a permit that can and will be checked by law
enforcement.
C) This bill will be enforced with a strict punishment with jail time if a person living in the U.S. is found with an
illegal firearm and is not acquitted with proper documents. Enforced by all U.S. law enforcement agencies.

My bill should become a law because it requires intense background checks, calls for permits to own and use the firearm, and
provides a way that firearms can be tracked from when purchased through for as long as they are still in use.

Today when you want to buy a firearm you are able to simply go to most sporting good shops where you can purchase one
if you have the money. With my bill you cant simply walk in and walk out with a firearm. There needs to be a process where the
seller reviews the history of the buyer as well as the history of anyone that buyer will allow to have access to that weapon. But not
every gun background check is the same, and their mechanics can be confusing at first glance (Jennifer Mascia). People can get
around some background checks because the existing laws are too weak to stop the person or discover a historical issue that
indicates the person may use that gun in a wrong way. The single largest gap in the federal background check requirement is that
unlicensed, private sellers are not required to conduct background checks (Smart Gun Laws). This is a simple way for convicted
felons to get around the background check and it ends up with a person that has already done time in jail for a crime they committed
to be out in society with a gun. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, is all about saving lives and
protecting people from harmby not letting guns fall into the wrong hands. It also ensures the timely transfer of firearms to eligible
gun buyers (FBI). There are rules for background checks and there is the opportunity that more can be added to make sure that the
person purchasing the firearm is capable and responsible enough to own it. These checkups could lead to different categories of
weapons and even require a buyer to pass a test to get a permit for each type.
While owning a weapon takes great discipline, many have used them the wrong way. Weapons need to be used in the right way and
if this bill gets passed it will help make that happen. To carry a weapon on your side you need to apply for a carrying permit, which
is important to make sure there are not people carrying a gun who had a historical reason for not carrying one. But that by itself
doesnt stop people from owning them. I believe that there should be a requirement to have a permit to even be possible to own the
weapon. Having these permits make owning a gun safer for you and if you are confronted by a police officer you can give them the
permit so they knew that you only have it to be safe and not harm anyone. The process of acquiring a gun sometimes can be loose
on the corners and people try to find loopholes to try to get their own weapon. Unless you have a permit, publicly carrying a gun in
California is against the law... period. But you may be issued a permit to carry a pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being
concealed upon the person if: 1. you are of good moral character; 2. Good cause exists for issuance of the license because you or a
member of your family is in immediate danger; 3. You meet certain residency requirements; and 4. You have completed an
acceptable course of firearms training (shouselaw). There are only a few steps to getting the license to carry a weapon but I think
there should be even more steps. I also believe there should also be follow ups following ownership so the government can confirm
that owner is still capable of owning the firearm.
Once a gun is purchased who knows what the person is going to use it for; maybe hunting, self-defense, or maybe crime? Its hard
to tell because its not possible to trace those weapons. How often do federally licensed gun dealers sell guns that are then used in
crimes? It's hard to know, because for nearly a decade such gun trace data has been hidden from the public. Even local law
enforcement had been, until recently, barred from accessing the database for anything but narrow investigations.(ProPublica). I
believe that this isnt right and that there should be a way for law enforcement to track the weapon. Tracking weapons would
provide a safeguard in case a gun gets in the wrong hands to help get the weapon out of those wrong hands before it is used
harmfully. The National Firearms Act Branch of ATF maintains the registry, known as the National Firearms Registration and
Transfer Record. The registry includes: 1) an identification of the firearm; 2) the date of registration; and 3) the identification and
address of the person entitled to possess the firearm.(Smartgunlaws). This branch keeps a record when you first purchase the
weapon but thats it, if you were to move or you passed the gun on to someone in your family who then sold it there would be no
way of getting that weapon found and taken control of.
Having to apply for a permit could take several weeks, that maybe too long for some people to wait which could lead to more illegal
weapons being bought in the black market. Which would lead to more crime. Every place that has been banned guns (either all
guns or all handguns) has seen murder rates go up. (Crimeresearch). Even if guns are taken away there are still ways to violently
hurt someone and if you take guns out of play, people will go back to barbaric ways of inflicting pain to others. Guns dont kill
people, people do the study also shows that Russias murder rate is four times higher than the U.S. and more than 20 times higher
than Norway. This, in a country that practically eradicated private gun ownership over the course of decades of totalitarian rule and
police state methods of suppression. Needless to say, very few Russian murders involve guns. (theacru). Even where gun control is
at its highest there is still intense crime that leads to the same result as it would with guns involved. The striking exception in
Europe is Switzerland, which has relatively lax gun laws compare to the United States and a relatively high percentage of
households where guns are present. Switzerland is the NRAs favorite example of the maxim guns dont kill, people do because it
has a low murder rate (Spitzer). It would appear that what we need are less gun laws that are less strict to people. We have to
figure out a way thats right in the middle that works to keep our people safe.