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u.s. news Diaranson 23 Juni 2021

Background checks blocked a record high 300,000 gun sales

(AP) — The number of due to limited resources for ond Amendment Founda-
people stopped from buy- the time-intensive investi- tion, said the increase in de-
ing guns through the U.S. gations, according to a U.S. nials might be partly because
background check sys- Government Accountability more states have been updat-
tem hit an all-time high Office report. ing their records of restricted
of more than 300,000 last people. There are sometimes
year amid a surge of fire- Everytown’s research found false positives as well, he said.
arm sales, according to that 16% of would-be gun “A day doesn’t go by that our
new records obtained by buyers in 2020 were pro- office doesn’t get complaint
the group Everytown for hibited by state law, like the calls from people who’ve
Gun Safety. extreme-risk protection or- been denied wrongly,” he
ders or red-flag laws passed said.
The FBI numbers provid- in several states. Another
ed to The Associated Press 12% were related to domestic The data also comes as a
show the background checks violence, either people sub- growing number of conser-
blocked nearly twice as many ject to a protective order or vative-leaning states drop re-
gun sales in 2020 as in the convicted of a misdemeanor quirements for people to get
year before. About 42% of domestic violence crime. background checks and train-
those denials were because in the Senate. The House in legally barred from owning ing to carry guns in public.
the would-be buyers had March passed the legislation them, said Adam Winkler, a The data shows how neces-
felony convictions on their requiring the checks on all UCLA Law professor spe- sary the legislation is, said Texas last week became the
records. sales and transfers, as well cializing in gun policy. Sarah Burd-Sharps, Every- latest state of about 20 to drop
as an expanded 10-day re- town’s director of research. permitting requirements
The increase in blocked gun view for gun purchases. Most “Some may have a felony amid a push that began gath-
sales largely tracks with the states require background conviction on their record “There’s no question that ering steam several years ago.
record-setting surge in sales checks only for sales at fed- and not think about it,” he background checks work, Gun rights groups say those
that took hold along with the erally licensed dealers. But said. but the system is working requirements are an unfair
coronavirus pandemic and the legislation faces an uphill overtime to prevent a re- burden for law-abiding gun
has continued into this year, battle getting any Republican Making a false statement cord number of people with owners, but firearm safety
through historic demonstra- support in the Senate. in connection with a back- dangerous prohibitors from groups worry it’s a dangerous
tions against police brutality, ground check is a felony being able to buy firearms,” trend that will allow more
deep political divisions and According to the data, the punishable by up to 10 years she said in a statement. “The firearms in the wrong hands.
an insurrection at the U.S. rate of barred would-be gun in prison and a hefty fine, but loopholes in the law allow
Capitol. buyers also increased some- few people are prosecuted for people to avoid the system, Denial data is released by the
what over the previous two what would amount to lying even if they just meet online FBI, but the information col-
It comes as Congress has years, from about 0.6% to on the form filled out before or at a gun show for the first lected by Everytown breaks
failed to pass major legis- 0.8%. That could be in part a gun purchase, he said. time.” it down by year and includes
lation on guns despite the because many of the people data from states such as Cali-
Democratic majority and who tried to get guns in 2020 In 2017, just 12 of the Gun rights groups have fornia and Florida, which
President Joe Biden’s push. were buying them for the 112,000 people denied a gun pushed back against the pro- conduct their own back-
A bill that would strengthen first time and may not have purchase, about 0.01%, were posal, and Alan Gottlieb, ground checks.
background checks is stalled been aware that they were federally prosecuted, largely founder of the group the Sec-

US official to address legacy of Indigenous boarding schools

(AP) - U.S. Interior Secretary After reading about the unmarked
Deb Haaland and other federal graves in Canada, Haaland recount-
officials are expected Tuesday to ed her own family’s story in a recent
announce steps the federal gov- opinion piece published by the Wash-
ernment plans to take to recon- ington Post.
cile the troubled legacy of board-
ing school policies on Indigenous Past efforts by the federal government
families and communities. to “eradicate our culture and erase us
as a people” is a history that needs to
A member of New Mexico’s Laguna be acknowledged, she wrote.
Pueblo and the first Native American
to serve as a Cabinet secretary, Haa- Haaland cited statistics from the Na-
land is scheduled to outline a path tional Native American Boarding
forward while addressing members School Healing Coalition, which re-
of the National Congress of Ameri- ported that by 1926, more than 80%
can Indians during the group’s mid- of Indigenous school-age children
year conference. were attending boarding schools that
were run either by the federal gov-
Starting with the Indian Civilization ernment or religious organizations.
Act of 1819, the U.S. enacted laws Besides providing resources and rais-
and policies to establish and support ing awareness, the coalition has been
Indian boarding schools across the working to compile additional re-
nation. For over 150 years, hundreds search on U.S. boarding schools and
of thousands of Indigenous children deaths that many say is sorely lacking.
were taken from their communities
and forced into boarding schools that in that legacy both in Canada and the them into society. They were forced Experts say removing children from
focused on assimilation. United States. to convert to Christianity and were their families and homes has had mul-
not allowed to speak their native lan- tigenerational effects on Indigenous
The recent discovery of children’s re- In Canada, more than 150,000 First guages. Many were beaten and ver- communities, from the loss of Native
mains buried at the site of what was Nations children were required to at- bally abused, and up to 6,000 are said languages and cultural resources to
once Canada’s largest Indigenous res- tend state-funded Christian schools to have died. cycles of violence and abuse.
idential school has magnified interest as part of a program to assimilate