Daughter of Newtown Survivor Sarah Clements Releases Thank You Video (Available Here) After Amy Schumer Responds to Her Open Letter via Twitter, “Don’t worry I’m on it. You’ll See.”
Senator Schumer Unveils Proposals to Keep Guns Out of Dangerous Hands; Everytown Research on Closing Fatal Gaps in Mental Health Records Reporting Available Here
NEW YORK – Everytown for Gun Safety, and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown, today thanked Amy Schumer and Senator Charles Schumer for standing up for gun sense in the wake of the Lafayette movie theatre shooting in which two young women were killed and nine others were injured while watching Trainwreck.
Last week Sarah Clements, daughter of a Newtown shooting survivor released an open letter to Amy Schumer, asking her to join the gun violence prevention movement. Schumer responded to Clements via Twitter, “Don’t worry I’m on it. You’ll see.” Today, Clements released a new video message (available here) thanking Amy Schumer for standing up for gun safety.
“We are grateful that the Schumers are using their public platforms to join together to fight for gun sense and say we must do more to keep guns out of dangerous hands,” said Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Sense in America. “In particular, American women are inordinately affected by gun violence, and are 11 times more likely to be shot and killed than women in other developed nations. It’s time for other leaders in politics and entertainment, and all Americans, to join the movement calling for common-sense public safety measures – like background checks on all gun sales – that will save American lives.”
Just last week, Senator Schumer stood alongside Everytown, Moms Demand Action, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and gun violence survivors to demand a vote from Congress on life-saving background check legislation to keep guns out of dangerous hands by requiring a criminal background check on all gun sales.
Senator Schumer today called for improving mental health records reporting into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Everytown for Gun Safety has consistently pressed states to adopt or strengthen the laws that require courts and mental health facilities to report mental health records to NICS. Mayors Against Illegal Guns, now part of Everytown, previously released Fatal Gaps: How Missing Records in the Federal Background Check System Put Guns in the Hands of Killers, the first and seminal report to detail how missing records in the background check system allow dangerously mentally ill people like the 2007 Virginia Tech gunman to pass background checks and buy guns. Everytown’s online Fatal Gaps heat map (available here) shows each state’s progress in reporting mental health records.
As a result of Everytown’s work to call attention to the need for improved mental health records reporting since November 2011, at least 19 states have passed new record-sharing statutes or have amended existing law in significant ways. Everytown has also advocated for increased federal funding to help states bring reporting systems up to speed. This past January, President Obama signed the Fiscal Year 2014 Budget, which includes a record $58.5 million for state grants to help states submit records to NICS, $40 million more than 2013 levels.