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GUN VIOLENCE AND THE COVID PANDEMIC

© Chip Somodevilla for Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all of us. It’s an unsettling time filled with anxiety: lives have been upended, tens of millions of students are out of school indefinitely, gun sales are soaring, and people are rightly worried about what comes next.

In the U.S. the COVID-19 pandemic intersects with another public health and human rights crisis: gun violence. The dangerous shortcomings of our national patchwork of gun regulations have become even clearer during this period of fear and uncertainty.

Millions of children are stuck at home with access to unlocked guns. Gun suicides may increase due to the prolonged isolation and economic anxiety. People at risk of domestic violence are trapped with their abusers. Online gun sales, which often don’t require background checks, are spiking. And communities that already feel the impact of gun violence the most are also being hit the hardest.

In times of crisis, we see most clearly how the state-by-state approach fails to protect human rights. We need nationwide protections for everyone, which is why we need you to take this urgent action to your Members of Congress today.

⬇ Make Your Voice Heard ⬇

Dear Senator {contact_data~lastName},

As your constituent, I am deeply worried about COVID-19, its long-lasting impact on our community, and how this public health crisis will impact the already deadly gun violence epidemic in our community and country.

It’s important to me that Congress passes federal laws to reduce gun violence, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The dangers of the current state-by-state patchwork have become even clearer during this time, as millions of students are kept home from school and people in already vulnerable situations face elevated threats.

Here are some of the steps Congress can take to help reduce gun violence during the COVID-19 pandemic:

- Support Ethan’s Law (H.R. 2867, S. 193): With over 43 million students home from school indefinitely, and over 4.5 million children in the U.S. living in homes with a loaded and unlocked weapon, the risk of accidental shootings could increase dramatically. If passed, Ethan's Law would set federal standards for safe gun storage, and give states incentives to create and implement safe gun storage laws.

- Support the Background Check Expansion Act (S.42): Isolation is leading to more internet gun purchases, with some online sellers reporting a nearly 70% increase in gun sales over a single month. Since most states don’t require background checks for online purchases, guns could easily be falling into dangerous hands. The House of Representatives has already passed H.R. 8, Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. The Senate must take up and pass this critical legislation.

- Support Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (S. 2843): Stay-at-home orders mean that individuals at risk of domestic violence  are confined in close quarters with their abusers. Women living with a gun in the home are three to five times more likely to be murdered than those without, but only 27 states require individuals served with a domestic violence protective order to relinquish their guns. This legislation would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, ensuring life-saving prevention, support, and programs, and would close the “boyfriend loophole” for abusers with guns.

- Support the Extreme Risk Protection Act (H.R. 1236/S. 506): Isolation and economic anxiety may lead to increased suicide attempts, and access to a firearm greatly increases the chance that these attempts end in death. Two-thirds of U.S. gun deaths each year are suicides, but less than 20 states have mechanisms that allow for the temporary removal of weapons from someone who’s proven to be at risk of harming themself or others. This legislation would encourage states to enact extreme risk laws that give families and law enforcement agencies the tools they need to prevent gun violence in their communities.

- Support the Disarm Hate Act (H.R. 2708 and S. 1462): Hate crimes were already on the rise before COVID-19, but the pandemic has sparked a rise in xenophobic attacks and harassment in the U.S. and around the world. FBI data estimates that guns are involved in approximately 8,500 hate crimes every year, but there is still no federal law prohibiting someone convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime from buying a gun. The Disarm Hate Act would prohibit the possession, shipment, or transport of a firearm by an individual, who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime.

- Support the Break the Cycle of Violence Act (H.R. 4836/S. 2671): Gun homicides disproportionately impact communities of color, particularly young black men. The causes are multi-faceted and include deep-seated issues around discrimination, poverty and access to state resources. Important measures meant to contain COVID-19 have sadly already resulted in increased unemployment, difficulty accessing health care and basic goods, and concerns around personal security - all of which contribute to a fertile ground for the spread of gun violence in already hard hit communities. This legislation would fund critical, evidence-driven, programs led by community members that are proven to be effective at preventing gun violence.

We need Congress to take leadership and establish nationwide standards. I urge you to take steps to end gun violence in our community and our country by supporting the above legislation and calling for their passage in this critical time.

Thank you for your attention to this, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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