Issue Position: Guns

Issue Position

We are beyond a crisis point with guns in America. Every day, 100 people in the United States die by gunshot, over 36,000 a year. It is a tragedy that requires our leaders to act.

I have made advancing solutions to gun violence a major focus of my work in Congress. I am a lead cosponsor of the bipartisan Extreme Risk Protection Order Act, which would give states grants and guidance to encourage the passage of laws which would allow law enforcement or family members petition a judge to temporarily remove access to firearms people in crisis.

I proudly voted in February for the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, which would expand background checks to cover nearly every gun sale. I also voted for legislation to close the Charleston loophole, which allowed prohibited persons to acquire firearms if their background check is not completed within three days, and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, which closed the "boyfriend loophole" on gun sales to abusive partners or stalkers. Most of these bills await further action in the Senate.

I also support measures to get weapons of war out of American communities, including the Assault Weapon Ban and measures to ban high capacity ammunition magazines. I cosponsor legislation to prohibit people convicted of hate crimes from obtaining firearms, and introduced the NO HATE Act to strengthen the response of federal law enforcement to the rising incidence of hate crimes and white supremacy in the United States.

Finally, I have worked across the aisle to address suicide, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the gun deaths in America. I am the founding co-chair of the House Suicide Prevention Task Force, which works to increase funding for suicide prevention programs, as well as to increase awareness of this epidemic, through which I continue to work on measures to address suicide and fund suicide prevention.

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