Expanded gun background checks will make state safer

As co-chairs of Nevadans for Background Checks, we are leading a statewide, bipartisan coalition working to pass an initiative that requires background checks on all gun sales in our state. This initiative, which will appear on the November 2016 ballot, would close the loophole that allows guns to be sold online and at gun shows with no background check required. Nevada families will be safer if we pass the background checks initiative.

Current federal law requires licensed gun dealers to conduct a background check for every firearm purchase. Through a simple process, the background check system has blocked more than 2.4 million gun sales to dangerous people, including felons, domestic abusers and the severely mentally ill.

In Nevada, between 2011 and 2014, of the more than 528,000 gun sales that took place through federally licensed gun dealers — all of which are required to conduct a background check — almost 5,400 sales were blocked. Because of the background check requirement, 5,400 fugitives, felons and the dangerously mentally ill were denied a firearm. Background checks work.

However, a loophole in the current federal law allows millions of gun sales to occur across the country every year through private sales, primarily through online sales or at gun shows without background checks. Dozens of websites — such as Armslist.com, the self-described Craigslist for guns — host tens of thousands of ads for unlicensed gun sales and provide a forum for strangers to connect and arrange offline gun transfers, without requiring a background check. Every month, on just four websites, Nevadans post nearly 1,000 ads offering guns in unlicensed sales with no background check required.

The unfortunate result is that criminals, domestic abusers and others who would do harm to themselves or others have an easy option after being denied a firearm at a legitimate dealer: purchase a gun online or at a gun show. Background checks don't clamp down on law-abiding citizens; rather, they level the playing field so that any criminal or domestic abuser trying to buy a gun from an unlicensed seller would have to go through the same background check required at a licensed gun store.

We agree with the Review-Journal editorial board that background checks won't stop every shooting. We also agree that Nevada should absolutely do a better job of tracking felony records. But it is nonsense to say that because we can't fix everything now, we shouldn't fix the immediate problem. We shouldn't let perfection stand in the way of a good solution that we know works and would prevent senseless violence in our community.

No one law can prevent every tragedy, but we know that background checks save lives. In the 18 states that go beyond federal law and require background checks on all gun sales, they have seen significant decreases in violent crime, including:

— 48 percent fewer law enforcement officers killed with handguns.

— 46 percent fewer women shot to death by intimate partners.

— 48 percent fewer gun suicides.

On the other hand, after Missouri repealed its background check law in 2007, there was a 25 percent spike in the state's homicide rate.

Background checks are working, but for them to work better, we need to close loopholes, which is exactly what the Nevada Background Check Initiative will do. This is a common-sense fix that will have a measurable, positive impact on public safety, and we know Nevadans already support it by an overwhelming margin. We are committed to working with Nevadans of all political stripes to ensure that come November 2016, we choose to vote to for a safer Nevada. We hope that Review-Journal readers will join our effort.

— Jan Jones, former mayor of Las Vegas, is Caesars Entertainment's executive vice president for communications and government relations. Elaine Wynn is president of the Nevada State Board of Education.