| |
| |
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, Requiring universal background checks for all |
|
|
firearm sales will help keep guns out of the hands of illegal buyers |
|
|
and traffickers, without causing an undue burden on law-abiding |
|
|
American citizens; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Currently, federal law requires licensed firearm |
|
|
dealers to perform background checks on prospective purchasers, but |
|
|
it does not require the same of unlicensed sellers; since this |
|
|
exception applies broadly to all unlicensed dealers, it has created |
|
|
a dangerous and far-reaching loophole that dramatically increases |
|
|
the likelihood of gun murders and suicides; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, According to the U.S. Department of Justice, |
|
|
"individuals prohibited by law from possessing guns can easily |
|
|
obtain them from private sellers and do so without any federal |
|
|
records of the transactions"; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Properly enforced background checks help to keep |
|
|
guns out of dangerous hands; since the adoption of the Brady Handgun |
|
|
Violence Prevention Act in 1994, more than three million people |
|
|
legally prohibited from possessing a gun--mainly convicted felons, |
|
|
domestic abusers, and the severely mentally ill--have been denied a |
|
|
firearm transfer or permit; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Far from being a partisan issue, polling data shows |
|
|
that more than 90 percent of the American public supports |
|
|
background checks for all gun sales; that includes the vast |
|
|
majority of Republicans, Democrats, law enforcement groups, and NRA |
|
|
members alike; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Background checks impose virtually no burden on |
|
|
law-abiding gun purchasers, as results are returned instantly and |
|
|
accurately in most circumstances; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, By enforcing a universal background check system on |
|
|
all gun sales, firearms will only be kept out of the hands of those |
|
|
legally prohibited from possessing them, and the United States will |
|
|
be a safer place for all Americans; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
|
hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to pass a |
|
|
federal law requiring universal background checks for all firearm |
|
|
sales; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
|
|
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
|
|
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
|
|
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
|
|
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
|
|
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
|
|
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |