The United States has higher rates of gun violence than  any other developed nation in the world, with 33,000 individuals killed every year by guns. The proliferation of, and easy access to, guns has resulted in an epidemic of gun violence — from deadly domestic abuse to suicide and school shootings.

Support for the Second Amendment goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns away from criminals and other dangerous people. Common-sense public safety laws like requiring gun buyers to pass a criminal background check, including closing the private sale loophole; banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines; criminalizing gun trafficking; and eliminating loopholes that allow convicted stalkers and domestic abusers access to guns can reduce gun violence and save lives.

NCJW believes that the nation’s laws and policies should restrict and regulate guns to prevent gun violence. NCJW supports limiting the sale and distribution of firearms and the proliferation of weapons, in order to reduce the number of lives cut short and families destroyed by readily available firearms in the hands of violent perpetrators.

These common-sense proposals would close deadly gaps in our gun laws and ensure law enforcement agencies have the tools they need to detect and deter gun trafficking:

• Require criminal background checks for gun sales.
• Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
• Make gun trafficking a federal crime.
• Eliminate loopholes that allow convicted stalkers and domestic abusers access to guns.
• Ensure the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is funded to research the issue of gun violence.