17-15 Gun Violence Prevention Resolution

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South Bend Gun Violence Prevention Resolution 2017 BILL NO. 17 -15 RESOLUTION NO. A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, URGING THE INDIANA STATE LEGISLATURE, OUR GOVERNOR AND ALL UNITED STATES SENATE AND CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLES OF INDIANA TO JOIN WITH OUR COMMUNITY AND PASS LEGISLATION TO KEEP GUNS OUT OF THE HANDS OF VIOLENT CRIMINALS, DOMESTIC ABUSERS AND SEVERELY MENTALLY ILL PERSONS BY CLOSING THE LOOPHOLES IN THE FEDERAL BACKGROUND CHECK SYSTEM AND STRENGTHENING STATE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAWS. Whereas, our city continues to experience significant harm from gun violence, despite hard work to reduce the number of incidents and prevent spikes of gun violence that have happened in other cities. It is clear that the easy availability of firearms to criminals is an important factor, so we look to our broader community of lawmakers to do their part to help South Bend curb the gun violence impacting our city. Whereas, the city of South Bend feels that it can protect the lives of its citizens and at the same time protect gun owners' Second Amendment rights. Whereas, to date, background checks have blocked over 2.3 million gun sales to prohibited people, with 88,203 of those occurring in 2013 alone, according to the F.B.I. Unfortunately, millions of firearms are sold in unlicensed sales, including anonymous transfers between strangers at gun shows and online. Whereas, Indiana does not require private sellers (sellers who are not federally - licensed dealers) to initiate a background check before transferring a firearm. Whereas, Indiana has a high rate of gun purchases that are unregulated by existing laws, which results in more illegal guns on our streets and more gun trafficking to other states. In addition, the prohibition on sales to those adjudicated severely mentally ill is not properly enforced, and Indiana's rate of submission of mental health records is little more than one - eighth of the national average. Whereas, some of our lawmakers argue that we do not need any new laws, that we should fix our existing laws before creating any new ones. We feel that our Indiana leaders have a responsibility to make our community safer by making all firearms subject to background checks at the point of sale, so that felons and those with severe mental illnesses are barred from possessing guns. Whereas, we believe Indiana can be a good example and do the right thing. As a model, we ask our leaders to consider the bi- partisan Manchin- Toomey Senate bill, or the Thomson -King House bill, both of which close the gun show and internet sales loopholes in the federal background check system. Indiana's U.S. senators and representatives should co- sponsor and vote for these bills in their respective chambers.