Rep. Carolyn Maloney Statement on Death Threats Over Legislation Requiring Gun Owners To Have Insurance

Statement

"Yesterday, several death threats were phoned into my New York office in response to news reports about a bill I authored requiring gun owners to have insurance. The calls were fielded by young interns, who were understandably shaken by this experience.

"Law enforcement has been notified and they are investigating the calls, and so no further comment from me on the details of the calls would be appropriate at this time

"I am proud of my work to help curb gun violence. I strongly support the comprehensive package of gun reforms proposed by the Obama Administration and I have authored two common sense pieces of legislation aimed at keeping our communities safer. One bill would put some teeth in the law against gun trafficking and straw purchases. Another would require that gun owners carry liability insurance, just like car owners, to give innocent victims of gun violence some recourse if they are injured. 100,000 Americans are injured by guns every year. Carrying insurance is the responsible thing to do.

"Given all the acts of gun violence we have seen in the past two years, the shootings in Aurora and Newtown, the attack on my friend and colleague Gabby Giffords, I take the threat of more gun violence very seriously. But it is not something that I will allow to stop me from doing my work."

Source