Thompson, ESTY Lead Bipartisan Call to End Gun Riders in Appropriations Bills

Press Release

U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and Elizabeth Esty (D-CT), vice-chair of the task force today led more than 100 of their bipartisan colleagues in calling on House Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to not include legislative language, or "riders" that would block efforts to reduce and prevent gun violence in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 appropriations bills.

"These riders benefit criminals and handcuff law enforcement's ability to reduce gun violence," said Thompson and Esty. "There is no justification for preventing scientific research into the causes of gun violence, or for restricting our ability to track and combat the spread of illegal guns. These riders are nothing more than backdoor legislative tactics designed to protect bad laws that shouldn't be on the books in the first place."

In previous appropriations bills, gun-related riders have been added without open debate and have acted as roadblocks to reducing and preventing gun violence.

These riders have prevented law enforcement from requiring federally licensed firearm dealers from keeping an inventory of their firearms, prevented law enforcement and academic institutions from using gun trace data to better understand the pattern of criminal gun transfers, and stifled scientific research into the causes of gun violence and the means of preventing it.

Thompson's task force recommended that Congress should act to repeal these riders and restore funding for public safety and law enforcement initiatives aimed at reducing gun violence. The task force urged Congress to fund law enforcement's efforts to reduce gun violence, while supporting federal research into the causes of gun violence.

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