Three years ago Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot in the head by a deranged man. Today, the politician and her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, are attending a gun show. The Saratoga Springs Arms Fair has agreed to a new “code of conduct” pushed by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Under the code of conduct sellers have agreed to perform a background check before selling weapons to attendees.
Gabby Giffords and Kelly are using the visit to push for a federal law that mandates background checks for all gun buyers at every gun show in the United States. Currently gun show sellers are not required to perform background checks, while gun store owners must perform a full background clearance for all gun sales.
In a public statement Mark Kelly says, “The state’s model helps keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them — like criminals and the dangerously mentally ill — without infringing on our Second Amendment rights.”
According to Schneiderman the “code of conduct” has been signed by 35 well-known gun show operates in New York. He adds, “Even as the American people have been shocked time and time again by mass shootings like Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson, Aurora, Newtown, and now the Navy Yard, Congress has produced one thing: stalemate and dysfunction.”
The Attorney General has promised to send New York State on a “different path” that will help keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them.
Each gun show in New York is now staffed with workers from the Attorney Generals office to ensure that all code of conduct standards are met.
Walk into a New York State gun show these days and you are likely to be greeted by signs throughout the show which demand an instant background check before purchases can be made.
Organizers at the “code of conduct” run shows tag each weapon before they enter the show floor to allow for proper tracking.
Do you support Gabby Gifford and Mark Kelly’s plan to require background checks at gun shows as a nationally mandated need?