|
|
| |||
PRESS RELEASEFor Immediate Release:April 26, 2004
Indianapolis Star Changes Its Policy on Firearms Advertising
Newspaper will only accept gun advertisements from licensed firearms dealers and will not take classified ads for guns from unlicensed sellers
Indianapolis, IN – The National Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole applauds the recent decision by the Indianapolis Star to restrict gun advertisements to licensed firearms dealers only. The newspaper announced its new policy on Feb. 20 with a “Notice to Readers” in the Guns, Hunting Fishing Equip. category of the classified section. The Star changed its policy after receiving a letter from Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence and the Indiana Partnership to Prevent Firearm Violence last September (2003). The letter asked the newspaper to adopt a policy of restricting firearms advertising to licensed firearms dealers only and to not take classified ads for firearms from unlicensed sellers. The letter to the Star was part of the National Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole. “The issue is not guns, but the way that guns are sold,” said Kathleen George, executive director of HCAGV. “Federally licensed firearms dealers are required by the Brady law to conduct criminal background checks on all buyers. However, unlicensed sellers who sell firearms from a “personal collection” through the classifieds are not required to conduct background checks. Newspapers that take gun ads from unlicensed sellers put Hoosiers at increased risk of gun violence.” Added Lori Lovett from the Indiana Partnership, “We consider that newspapers have a civic responsibility to ensure that newspaper classifieds don’t become venues for felons, domestic abusers, and other prohibited purchasers to avoid a criminal background check and illegally buy guns. We commend the Indianapolis Star for taking this responsible action and call on other Indiana newspapers to follow the Star’s example.” “It just makes good policy,” said John Johnson, coordinator for the National Campaign to Close the Newspaper Loophole. “Why would a newspaper run the risk of being the source of a gun used by a prohibited purchaser in a homicide or other gun crime?” Since the campaign was launched in November 2001, at least 18 newspapers, with a combined daily circulation of 4.5 million, have changed their firearms advertising policy.
|
| ||||