Impact of Gun Violence in America

Floor Speech

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Mrs. BEATTY. Madam Speaker, I rise today because every year, on average, 36,000 Americans are killed by guns, which is equivalent to the population of many Ohio cities. We must do more to close the loopholes and advance sensible gun reform legislation to end this epidemic in America.

And speaking of Ohio, where I am from and represent, according to the Giffords Law Center's annual gun scorecard grades Ohio at an `F'. As the Congresswoman representing Ohio's Third Congressional District, this is something I am not proud of.

Currently at the state level, Ohio has no universal background checks, no assault weapons restrictions, no ban on large capacity magazines, no waiting periods, no child access prevention laws, no gun owner licensing or registration requirements, no extreme risk protection orders, no limit on the number of guns that can be bought at once, and also lacks most domestic violence gun laws.

Easy gun access encourages the increased prevalence of firearms in our communities. As someone who deeply values the families and communities I serve, one of my top priorities is keeping them safe.

I stand proud to be a part of that push for necessary reform as a cosponsor of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which would establish checks on the transfer of firearms between private parties and prohibits the transfer of a firearm if a preliminary background check has not been conducted. I am also a cosponsor of the Assault Weapons Ban Act and a number of other sensible gun violence prevention measures.

However, we must push further and look to reform historical systemic disparities by investing in community-based violence intervention policies that rectify injustices in our policing, education, and residential segregation and racial bias.

More than one in four fatal police shootings involves a Black victim, even though Black people make up nearly 14 percent of the United States population.

The time for action is now. As members of Congress, we have an obligation to protect the citizens we represent and be proactive in preventing harm to all Americans.

I urge my colleagues on the other side to come together and set aside partisan differences before it's too late. We owe it to the victims of gun violence; we owe it to our constituents. My fellow CBC members have already started answering this call as we have introduced over 17 sensible gun reform and community safety bills in the 118th Congress alone.

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