Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as the holiday season draws close, millions of Americans are shopping online for clothes, toys, and other holiday gifts. But alarmingly, at the same time, convicted felons, domestic abusers, terrorists, and other dangerous people are able to go online and just as easily shop for something else: guns. Studies have shown that thousands of firearms are bought and sold online every year. Many of these sales exploit loopholes in the background check laws designed to keep our communities safe. Under current law, an individual buying a gun at a brick-and-mortar, Federally licensed firearm dealer must pass a simple and quick background check to make sure that, among other things, they haven't been convicted of a felony, or aren't a domestic abuser, or haven't been adjudicated to be dangerously mentally ill. Department of Justice statistics have shown that Brady background checks have blocked more than two million instances in which a dangerous individual attempted to obtain a deadly weapon. But a significant loophole in this law is now well known: felons and other prohibited persons can simply go to a ``private seller,'' as opposed to a licensed dealer, and buy a gun without a background check. It has been estimated that as of September 2013, about 67,000 firearms were listed for sale online from private sellers. Many of the people buying guns from these sellers have no intention of committing any sort of crime and would easily pass a background check.…”