Chairman Kucinich to hold Domestic Policy Subcommittee Hearing Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Chairman Kucinich will hold the first Congressional hearing on gun laws since the Virginia Tech massacre.This bipartisan hearing will evaluate incompleteness in the federal database used for checking the criminal and mental health records of
gun purchasers, as well as the inconsistencies in state compliance with
federal gun purchase laws. The hearing will also address
inconsistencies among the states in their supplemental gun prohibition
laws.
The hearing will concern state compliance with the Gun Control Act of 1968, including states’ obligations under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 to report “prohibited persons” to the National Instant Check System (NICS). It will also address various state-law firearm restrictions beyond those required by federal law, including purchase and possession prohibitions for certain individuals in the following categories: individuals under mental health care or evaluation, individuals restrained by protective or restraining orders, and former juvenile offenders.
Witnesses for the hearing include:
Panel I Ms. Robyn Thomas, Executive Director, Legal Community Against Violence Mr. Paul Hemke, President, Brady Campaign Against Handgun Violence Mr. John Feinblatt, Criminal Justice Coordinator for New York City
Panel II Ms. Rachel L. Brand, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice Mr. Stephen R. Rubenstein, Chief Counsel, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (will nto testify but will answer questions)
Panel III Professor Daniel Webster, Johns Hopkins University Professor Susan Sorenson, University of Pennsylvania Mr. Ron Honberg, Director of Policy and Legal Affairs, National Alliance on Mental Illness
