Brady Campaign Demands that Lawmakers Take Meaningful Action to Stop Gun Violence

New "Fix NICS Act" Seen as a Small but Positive Step to Addressing Issue

Washington D.C., November 17, 2017 —The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence today responded to the introduction of the Fix NICS Act of 2017 by Senators John Cornyn (R-Tex) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn), which seeks to strengthen the reporting of prohibited purchasers, including domestic abusers, by state and federal agencies into our nation’s background check system.

In response to the announcement, Kris Brown, Co-President of the Brady Campaign said, "We must ensure we have robust and strong reporting into the Brady background check system--that was the intent of the law when Congress passed the Brady bill in 1993, and it was its intent when Congress unanimously passed the 2007 NICS Improvement Amendments Act to strengthen the system."

"The tragic shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, like too many others across this country, shows that the failure to add names of prohibited purchasers to our background check system costs lives. We applaud Senators Cornyn and Murphy for taking this step to ensure better reporting into the system, but also note that other gaps that have emerged in the system must be fixed, including adding requirements for Brady background checks to gun sellers who are not licensed dealers. Today, 1 in 5 guns are sold without a background check because of that gap," said Avery Gardiner, Brady co-President.

"The elections in Virginia and New Jersey show that voters want solutions that address the issue of gun violence with one aim in mind: keeping guns out of dangerous hands. This bill is an important step in helping to do that, but much more can and must be done to strengthen the system as a whole and save lives," said Brown.