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Gunreference1
07-27-2010, 02:37 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2010 2:17 PM
CONTACT: Violence Policy Center
Kristen Rand, Violence Policy Center, 202-822-8200 x102, krand@vpc.org
or Peter Hamm, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, 202-289-5792, phamm@bradymail.org

House Expected to Vote on Bill to Protect Guns From Claims of Creditors in Bankruptcy Cases

Bill would only increase risk to families and children in economic strife

WASHINGTON - July 26 - The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote tomorrow (Tuesday, July 27) on a bill that would protect guns from the claims of creditors in bankruptcy proceedings (H.R. 5827). The national gun violence prevention organizations Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, GunFreeKids.org, Legal Community Against Violence, Protest Easy Guns, and Violence Policy Center are adamantly opposed to the legislation.

According to the groups, facts show that the last thing a family struggling with bankruptcy needs is access to a gun. Specifically, the presence of guns in households experiencing bankruptcy only enhances the risk of suicide or murder-suicide. According to the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS)--the only federal data that details such information--more than 12 percent of firearm-related murder-suicides and suicides were precipitated by financial problems. Firearms are by far the weapons most commonly used in murder-suicide. Studies confirm that firearms are used in approximately 90 percent of murder-suicides. The groups warned that H.R. 5827--which would protect guns up to an aggregate value of $1,500--is only the latest wrong-headed idea from the gun lobby that would protect guns at the expense of families.

Media accounts of murder-suicides also often include descriptions of the financial struggles, including bankruptcy, that precede such desperate acts:

o In June 2010, a California couple died in a murder-suicide and their three-year-old son was shot multiple times. The couple's five-year-old son told authorities that his father tried to shoot him, and then shot his mother and brother. The family started missing house payments in early 2009 and had filed for bankruptcy in February 2010.

o In February 2010, a Florida couple died of gunshot wounds in a murder-suicide in what the St. Petersburg Times described as "the end of a long history of money troubles." They had filed for bankruptcy in December 2004, listing $251,140 in debts. The couple's two young daughters hid in the bathroom during the shooting.

o In June 2009, a Florida family of four, including a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old, were shot to death in a murder-suicide. The parents were deeply in debt and struggled for five years to get out, according to records filed in federal bankruptcy court. The couple had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2004 and a trustee constructed a plan for them to repay their debts, but they failed to make the payments. The case was converted to Chapter 7 which would force the couple to liquidate their assets. A status hearing on the case was scheduled to occur two months after the murder-suicide.

HR 5827 - http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.5827:

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/07/26-9

Steve

Sidartha
07-27-2010, 10:30 AM
Honestly I don't see the need for this law.
There are already enough ways to move guns between friends and family for the cost of a dealer transfer fee.
This would encourage people to buy up $20,000 shotguns just to avoid the bankruptcy. Not that they can't do that now but why make it easier?

cciota
07-27-2010, 10:44 AM
I don't understand. Does the law want to keep creditors taking people's guns to repay their debt or does it prevent creditors from taking people's guns because they might wack themselves and not pay their debt???????

It kinda sounds like both.

Gunreference1
07-29-2010, 09:35 AM
July 28, 2010 5:36 PM

House Passes Bill to Keep Creditors From Taking Guns
Posted by Brian Montopoli

If you file for bankruptcy, you run the risk of losing your money and your car to creditors.

But under a measure that just overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives, one thing they would not be able to take is your gun.

The House this afternoon passed a bill that would change the law to allow someone going through bankruptcy proceedings to retain their rifles, shotguns, and pistols so long as they are worth less than $3,000 combined. (CBS Radio Capitol Hill correspondent Bob Fuss reports that, under the law, if you keep just one firearm, there is no such limit on its value.)

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, introduced a similar measure in the Senate yesterday. The bill passed the House 307 to 113.

The House measure was introduced by freshman Democratic Rep. John Boccieri of Ohio, who argues that "We must protect the rights guaranteed to us by our founding fathers, no matter what financial circumstances a citizen might face," according to The Plain Dealer.

The National Rifle Association, possibly the most powerful lobbying group in Washington, endorsed the measure, saying in part, "We think it is reasonable for folks who are in financial distress to have an effective means of defending themselves."

Many states already have carve-outs for firearms in bankruptcy proceedings.

New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy argued on the House floor that the measure is a mistake, the Plain Dealer reports, arguing that having guns in households that are going through bankruptcy could increase the risks of suicide and violence.

How they voted - http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll479.xml

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20011999-503544.html

Steve