A PSA in Support of Opposition to Repealing Minnesota's Gun Purchase Background Check

Before anyone gets their knickers in a knot, let me emphasize, I am NOT anti-Second Amendment rights, and I am not againt gun ownership by people who are legal and responsible.  Please, please note that this is entirely in support of keeping guns out of the hands of those individuals who are recklessly violent, engage in criminal activity, are drug users or are dangerously mentally ill.  If you do not fit into one or more of those categories, you are not adversely affected in your gun ownership rights by these activities.  Rather you are safer: safer from criminals and addicts, safer from terrorists, safer from dangerous mentally ill fellow citizens.  Not only are you and your families safer, but so are our law enforcement officers.  That is a worthy goal of safety and sanity that we should all be able to support in conjunction with exercising our 2nd Amendment rights.  In that context, I offer this as a Public Service Announcement.

For criminals, drug abusers and other dangerous people, buying a gun without a background check is far too easy.


Just two weeks after the Tucson shootings, the City of New York sent undercover investigators to a gun show in nearby Phoenix, Arizona where they filmed three gun purchases -- all with no questions asked.


Check out this undercover video and share it with your friends and families.


Federal law prohibits certain categories of dangerous people from owning guns, and licensed dealers can easily screen buyers with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). But the system is easily evaded, especially in so-called "private sales" made at hundreds of gun shows around the country every year.

The Gun Show Loophole is how investigators bought a Glock 9mm and three 33-round high-capacity magazines -- just like those used by Jared Loughner -- without undergoing a background check.


In fact, investigators were able to buy two more handguns, even after informing the sellers they “probably couldn’t pass a background check.” That’s not just outrageous, it’s an illegal sale.


It’s time for Congress to step up and fix these deadly flaws in our gun laws. The background check system must include all the names of prohibited purchasers, and the loopholes that let criminals evade background checks must be closed immediately.


Watch the undercover video from Arizona and spread the word about fixing gun checks:
http://www.GunShowUndercover.org


The fatal flaws in America’s background check system have been exposed at Columbine, Virginia Tech, and now in Tucson. Let's do what it takes to stop these tragic shootings.


Thanks for getting involved,


Mayors Against Illegal Guns