Washington, DC – At a press conference today with the Brady Campaign and Reverend Jesse Jackson, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) called on President Bush to adhere to his campaign promise to renew the federal assault weapons ban, which is pending before Congress.  The current ban expires on September 13, 2004. Lee has co-sponsored H.R. 2038, the Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2003, which would extend the ban for 10 years:

“I call on President Bush to keep his promise to renew the federal Assault Weapons Ban. If we don’t take action, this important protection will expire six months from now.  This is a fundamental matter of public safety.”

“Mayors, police chiefs and officers, and a long list of public safety organizations, including the National Black Police Association, are demanding that Congress and the White House do the right thing and renew this ban on weapons that are capable of such massive destruction. It makes no sense not to renew the ban because these are military style weapons that will flood back into our neighborhoods if President Bush doesn’t keep his promise.”

“In my own district in Oakland, we confront a troubling homicide rate.  We had 114 homicides in Oakland last year, and already this year, we have had 27 homicides. Think how much blood would be shed if AK-47s and Uzis are legally allowed to come back into our communities. We need to extend this ban as part of a comprehensive, common sense approach to public safety that will get guns off our streets.”

“This is not optional – this is a matter of life and death.”
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