More and more businesses are accepting digital currency as payment for goods sold online. Although this can be convenient, it can also be yet another way to get around background checks on gun sales.
For example, just last week a Texas-based maker of an expensive high-powered rifle announced it would start accepting a cyber currency called Bitcoin, which allows buyers to hide their identity. Even though this particular company is federally licensed and does run background checks, under current laws in most states private gun companies don’t have to run these checks!
Already some private sellers openly advertise that they’ll sell guns to people who wouldn’t likely pass a background check, and Bitcoin will just make it that much easier for guns to get in the hands of the wrong people.
Don't let private owners sell untraceable guns without background checks!
Ask Congress to pass a gun bill that will expand background checks to all gun sales.
We, the undersigned, say all states should require background checks on all gun sales.
Even after the Newtown tragedy, the Senate failed to pass a gun bill that would expand what is known to be a basic and easy background check - to all gun sales.
This failure is no longer acceptable, especially considering the new developments in cyber currency and results of a recent John’s Hopkins’s study supplying strong evidence that allowing private sellers to bypass background checks can lead to a significant increase in homicides.
Johns Hopkins researchers looked specifically into whether or not Missouri’s relaxed gun law had any effect on homicides. After MO repealed a permit-to-purchase handgun law in 2007, unlicensed sellers were no longer required to perform background checks before selling their guns, and about 60 more people were murdered each of the following years. Based on the evidence, this increase in homicides was no coincidence.
The researchers concluded that the common-sense approach to reducing gun violence would be to include background checks on all gun sales, a measure which would not infringe upon Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners.
Bitcoin and other cyber currency will now make it much easier for untraceable guns to get into the wrong hands, therefore it’s urgent that Congress act immediately.
We request a gun bill that will expand background checks to all gun sales in all states.
Thanks for your time.
