WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: Rep. Stevens Introduces New Bill to Keep Illegal Handguns Out of the Mail
Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens introduced the Keep Illegal Handguns Out of the Mail Act to block a Trump Administration proposal that would dramatically expand handgun shipments through the U.S. mail. Rep. Stevens is leading the charge to strengthen public safety by preventing handguns from being shipped without background checks, recordkeeping, or licensed dealer oversight.
The Trump Administration proposal would allow anyone with access to a mailbox to send and receive handguns through the mail, undermining longstanding federal safeguards. Stevens’ legislation would stop the rule change and preserve existing protections designed to keep illegal firearms out of communities.
Here’s what Michiganders are seeing about Rep. Haley Stevens pushing to make sure the Trump Administration doesn’t put families at risk of more gun violence:
Michigan Public: Rep. Stevens, Congressional Dems fight plans to allow mailing of handguns
By: Colin Jackson
A new bill in Congress would stop the U.S. Postal Service from allowing the mailing of handguns by anyone other than a federally licensed firearm dealer.
That practice had already been illegal for nearly a century. But the U.S. Department of Justice found the old law to be unconstitutional in an opinion released earlier this year.
U.S. Representative Haley Stevens (D, MI-11) sponsors the bill to bring back the ban. She said the law isn’t something the executive branch can just get rid of.
“No court has invalidated it, and Congress hasn't repealed it. And so, this legislation simply says the Post Office cannot administratively override a federal law on its own,” Stevens said.
“I don't want to be in line at a post office, watching anybody put a gun down on the counter and asking it to be mailed to somebody who has not gone through a background check, not passed any of the background check procedures.”
Stevens said the bill has the backing of anti-gun violence groups like Brady: United Against Gun Violence, Giffords, and Everytown for Gun Safety. Some of her Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives have also joined her in the effort, including Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-4), and Jill Tokuda (HI-2).
The Hill: House Democrat introduces bill to block Postal Service from mailing handguns
By: Sophie Brams
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) introduced a bill Friday aimed at blocking a rule proposed by the Trump administration that could allow handguns to be shipped through the U.S. Postal Service.
The bill, which was first shared with The Hill, would prohibit the Postal Service from “finalizing, implementing, or enforcing” any proposed or future rule that changes regulations governing the mailing of firearms and uphold a nearly 100-year-old federal ban on the practice.
“Michiganders want common-sense safeguards that protect families and support law enforcement, not reckless policies that create new loopholes for illegal guns”
Stevens’s bill has the backing of major groups fighting gun violence across the U.S., including the organization led by former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was left partially paralyzed after being shot in the head during a 2011 assassination attempt.
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