Safe and Secure Communities

Congresswoman Lowey believes citizens have the basic right to live in communities free from fear and violence. She has strongly supported gun safety initiatives, including the Brady Bill, and she continues to work to mandate child safety locks on firearms, close the gun show loophole, and keep guns out of the hands of children and criminals. Lowey has been a leader in the national fight against drunk driving. And Lowey is a strong, consistent advocate for the needs of public safety professionals, including the police officers and firefighters who work hardest to protect our communities.

 
Assault Weapons

Congresswoman Lowey is a strong supporter of the federal ban on assault weapons and has fought hard to keep these dangerous weapons out of our communities. She cosponsored legislation to make the ban permanent and has actively encouraged leaders in the House of Representatives to renew the ban.

 
Prosecuting Offenders

In October 2005, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act became law and provided liability protection for manufacturers and sellers of firearms, ammunitions, or components of firearms that have been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.  Lowey voted against the bill because it would protect those who violated gun laws by closing courtroom doors to victims of gun violence.

 
Child Safety Locks

Unsupervised children often have access to firearms. Congresswoman Lowey has supported common-sense measures to require child safety locks, as required in the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

 
Local Law Enforcement

Law enforcement agencies must be given all the tools they need to protect our communities. In 2006 Congresswoman Lowey opposed the ATF Modernization and Reform Act because it would have made it more difficult for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to prove that a gun dealer knowingly broke the law in selling illegal firearms and would have lowered most penalties, making them minor offenses.

 
She also supported the 2007 reauthorization of the Community Orientated Policing Services (COPS) Program, which is designed to help local communities hire an additional 50,000 police officers over the following six years. Over the past decade, this program has provided over $21 million in federal grants to the district and helped local law enforcement agencies hire 280 additional police officers – which helped to significantly reduce crime across the country.

Rep. Lowey has also opposed efforts to prevent federal law enforcement agencies from sharing gun trace data with others when prosecuting cases. Prohibiting law enforcement from sharing information related to crimes can make it impossible to punish criminals who have knowingly violated the law.