Subject: [big campaign] KNOWN FACTS re: CO shooting
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:26:03 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

KNOWN FACTS as of noon 7/20, from our friends at MAIG... If you have specific questions, you can reach Brina Milikowsky at 212.788.8941... 

JULY 20, 2012 SHOOTING IN AURORA, CO,  AND COLORADO GUN LAWS
 
q  Background:  Early on July 20, 2012, 12 people were killed and at least 50 others wounded when a gunman wearing a bullet-proof vest opened fire and tossed a canister of tear gas in a midnight screening of Batman in a suburban movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, outside Denver.  
Ø  The victims being treated as of 10am ET include a three-month-old baby and a six-year old girl.[1] 
Ø  The suspect is a 24-year old man named James Holmes and was until recently a graduate student at the University of Colorado Medical School.  He drove to the movie theater in a car with Tennessee license plates. 
Ø  Four guns were recovered at the scene: a 5.56 caliber rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, and two handguns.[2]
Ø  This was the deadliest mass shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999, when two students opened fire at a high school in Littleton, CO, about 15 miles west of Aurora, killing 13 people and wounding 26 others before killing themselves. 
 
q  Federal Law on Purchasing and Possessing Guns: Since 1968, following the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy, federal law has prohibited ten categories of people from possessing or buying guns, including convicted felons, drug abusers, those with a history of serious mental illness, and illegal aliens.[3] 
Ø  Federal background checks: Every gun purchase from a federally licensed firearms dealer is subject to a background check.  Federally licensed dealers run background checks at the time of purchase through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the FBI-run database of people who, under state or federal law, are prohibited from buying guns. 
§  No checks by private sellers:  Federal law does not require “private sellers,” including unlicensed sellers at gun shows, to run a background check before selling a gun.
·         An estimated 40% of U.S. gun sales are conducted by unlicensed “private sellers.”[4] 
Ø  Assault Weapons: Congress banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in 1994 but allowed the law to expire in 2004. 
 
q  Colorado Gun Laws: Colorado state gun laws go beyond basic federal law, most notably in that Colorado has closed the Gun Show Loophole, although it does not otherwise regulate assault weapons or extended magazines. 
Ø  Gun Show Loophole: Colorado requires a background check for sales at gun shows, although it does not require a background check for other private sales.[5] In 2011, 336,296 NICS checks were conducted in Colorado. 
§  All four guns used in the Columbine massacre had been purchased at a gun show. 
§  A year later, Colorado citizens voted 70%-30% in favor of Amendment 22, closing the Gun Show Loophole in their state and requiring a background check for every gun sale at a gun show.
Ø  Carry Concealed Weapons in Colorado: Colorado has a robust handgun concealed carry framework which places higher standards for concealed carry privileges than are required by federal law or the laws of a number of other states, including:
§  Prohibitions on carrying by dangerous individuals, such as: Individuals who “chronically and habitually use alcohol.”[6]
§  Firearm safety training requirement: Applicants must complete a certified firearms safety training course that includes training on the safe handling of a firearm, or otherwise demonstrate competency with a handgun.[7]
§  Age restriction: Applicants must be at least 21 years of age.[8]
§  Law enforcement discretion: Local law enforcement has limited discretion to approve or deny a carry permit if the applicant will present a danger to self or others based on the applicant’s documented previous behavior.[9]
§  Resident requirement: Applicants must be a resident of Colorado.[10]
§  Reciprocity: Colorado recognizes concealed carry permits from 30 other states, including Tennessee. 
Ø  Assault Weapons:  Colorado does not regulate assault weapons or extended magazines. 
Ø  Firearm Homicides: In 2009 (the most recent data available), there were 108 firearm homicides in Colorado.[11]

[1] http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/20/12850048-12-shot-dead-at-dark-knight-rises-screening-in-aurora-colorado.
[2] http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/20/us/colorado-theater-shooting/index.html.
[3] 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)-(9), (n). 
[4] See Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, “Gun Shows, Brady Checks, and Crime Gun Traces,” January 1999, available at http://www.atf.gov/publications/download/treas/treas-gun-shows-brady-checks-and-crime-gun-traces.pdf/
[5] Colo. Rev. Stat. § 12-26.1-101(1).
[6] Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-203(1)(e)(II).
[7] Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-203(1).
[8] Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-203(1)(b).
[9] Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-203(2), (3).
[10] Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-12-203(1)(a).
[11] Centers for Disease Control, WISQARS Fatal Injury Reports, Homicide Firearm Deaths, 2009.

--
Aniello Alioto
National Political Director
[email-masked]
502.664.2420

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