Letter to Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of the Dept. of Homeland Security, and Chris Krebs, Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security - Members of Congress Call on Homeland Security to Drop Gun Shops from Essential Business List

Letter

Dear Secretary Wolf and Director Krebs:

On March 28, 2020, The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) published an "Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce" advisory list to help State, local, tribal and territorial officials ensure a continuity of functions critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are writing to request that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and CISA remove "workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors and shooting ranges" from this list of critical infrastructure workforce. DHS promotion of the operation of gun and ammunition businesses as "essential," while only advisory, unduly influences local authorities' discretion and its ability to stop the spread of COVID-19. This clearly places the gun industry and political interests over valid public health objectives.

The designation also further contributes to a general climate of panic-buying of guns. This recent, excessive proliferation of firearms amid a national pandemic degrades community and individual safety in a variety of obvious and well-documented ways, yet it provides no discernable benefit to public health.

According to many reports, gun and ammunition retailers have seen a sharp uptick in sales in recent weeks, especially from first-time buyers, as the nation deals with the anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] This trend would be dangerous during any period of time, but especially now, when a large majority of the country is abiding by stay-at-home orders and many schools are closed, an infusion of more guns into our communities represents a grave threat to the health and safety of Americans.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, victims of domestic violence are increasingly being trapped at home with their abusers and research indicates that an abuser is five times more likely to kill their partner if they have access to a firearm.[2] Firearm purchasers, especially first-time purchasers, might lack the knowledge and experience to also purchase gun storage or safety devices. With more children home from school, this could lead to increased accidental shootings or youth suicides. In addition to creating increased risk for these vulnerable groups, as Dr. Elinore Kaufman, a trauma surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, described in her recent New York Times editorial, dealing with the daily toll of our country's existing gun violence epidemic is especially problematic now, as our health care workers are struggling to cope with the influx of new patients that require hospitalization.[3]

The battle against this pandemic is being fought in homes and hospitals across our nation, we call on the Department of Homeland Security to listen to the research and not exacerbate this already dire situation by keeping gun and ammunition retailers on the list of essential businesses. Public health experts, not the National Rifle Association, should guide our efforts to combat COVID-19.

Sincerely,