People Over Corporations
When it comes to the safety of our families and communities, I will not stand down. People are dying because our political system cares more about billionaire gun corporations than Americans. I hunt, I own long guns, and I wear flannel, but all of us deserve to be spared the heartache of watching our politicians posture while we keep losing our loved ones to gun violence.
+ Gun Safety
Montanans understand gun safety better than anyone:
- Treat all guns as if they are always loaded.
- Practice safe muzzle discipline.
- Keep your finger off of the trigger until your target is in your sights.
- Be sure what is behind your target.
- And always secure your guns from unauthorized persons.
That is why I support legislation to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn't have them, such as domestic abusers, felons, and those prohibited due to mental illness.
+ Better Background Checks
Criminal background checks are the foundation of reducing gun violence across America. In the United States, more than three and a half million illegal gun sales have been blocked in the past twenty years. Yet in Montana, a convicted felon, domestic abuser, or fugitive can skip a background check by finding an unlicensed seller at a gun show or online.
I will work to close this dangerous loophole and further strengthen the system by ensuring all background checks are completed before guns are sold and empower law enforcement to pursue people who illegally try and fail to purchase guns.
+ Keeping Guns From Domestic Abusers
An average of 52 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner every month. Nearly 1 million women alive today have reported being shot at by intimate partners. Over 4.5 million women have reported being threatened with a gun.
We must protect all survivors of domestic violence, including non-married partners, by preventing abusers from possessing firearms after a criminal conviction or while under a restraining order. And we must ensure that abusers actually turn in their guns after becoming prohibited from possessing guns in a court of law.
+ Stopping Gun Suicides
When a person dies by their own hand with a gun, they are a victim of gun violence, too. Tragically, two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides. The rate of firearm-related suicides is growing in Montana. In 1999, nearly 100 people died by gun-related suicides, a number that number doubled by 2017. We are losing our friends, our sisters, uncles, mothers, and fathers to gun violence at their own hands. I will work to:
- Strengthen Red Flag laws.
- Allow family members and police to ask a judge to temporarily block a person from possessing firearms if they pose a threat to themselves or others.
- Require safe and responsible storage of all guns.
