[ CSM Letterhead ]
Dear Supporter,
Thanks to an outpouring of hundreds of emails from you, the House
Finance Committee on Tuesday night voted to close the gun show loophole! Rep. Michael Paymar's amendment to the Game and Fish bill passed 12-11. (For more detail, scroll down.)
It's time to celebrate!! Join us Saturday, May 2, from 4:45 to 7 p.m. at
the Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave. N. Minneapolis, following the
day-long Promoting Peace in Our Communities conference. RSVP by replying to this email, clicking here xxxxx, or visiting xxxxx.
(A donation is requested.)
We would like to thank the representatives who voted to close the gun
show loophole: Reps. John Benson, Bobby Champion, Karen Clark, Mindy
Greiling, Alice Hausman, Phyllis Kahn, Kate Knuth, Ann Lenczewski,
Michael Paymar, Nora Slawik, Lyndon Carlson, and Paul Thissen. You can
thank all of them at once by clicking here xxxxx.
There is much more work to do. Your participation and support helps us
to educate the public about gun violence prevention and work for
sensible policy around guns. If you can't be with us Saturday, please
consider making a donation by going to
www.endgunviolnce.com.
Thank you for all you do,
Heather Martens
Executive Director
Citizens for a Safer Minnesota
www.endgunviolence.com More about the bill, debate and vote
The gun show loophole bill would require a background check before the
sale of any gun sale at a gun show. Current law requires such checks
only if the seller is a Federally licensed dealer. To become law, this
measure will need to pass in the House and Senate.
Before the meeting, the NRA sent out emails claiming that only 1 percent
of crime guns come from gun shows, a figure based on interviews with
convicts. But during the committee discussion, Rep. Paymar made it clear
that the ATF has identified gun shows as a major trafficking channel.
Convicts who are not themselves gun traffickers have little
understanding of the gun trafficking pipeline. From 2004 to 2006, the
ATF made one arrest for every 1.6 gun shows investigated. (An excellent
new report on no-check gun sales can be found at
http://www.bradycenter.org/xshare/pdf/r ... report.pdf)
Quotes of the day:
Rep. Al Juhnke, to Rep. Bobby Champion of North Minneapolis: "If I lived
in your district, I'd vote for everything (gun regulation)."
Rep. Tom Hackbarth to one of our supporters by email:
"I do not support infringing upon a person's second amendment right; or
any of their constitutional rights!"
The votes
Voting against were Reps. Laura Brod, Mark Buesgens, Pat Garofalo, Tom
Hackbarth, Bill Hilty, Al Juhnke, Paul Kohls, Tom Rukavina, Ron
Shimanski, Steve Smith, Loren Solberg.
Abstention: Rep. Steve Simon.
Absent: Reps. Tom Emmer, Larry Howes, Tom Huntley, Mary Kiffmeyer, Mary Murphy, Gene Pelowski, Joyce Peppin, Ryan Winkler, Jean Wagenius.
For more information, and to stay posted on what happens next with the
bill, visit our web site,
www.endgunviolence.com.
Donate now.
