Congresswoman Beatty Stresses the Need for Action on Gun Violence Prevention

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Mr. Speaker, elementary schools, high schools, movie theaters, universities, and shopping malls have all been scenes of horrific incidents where innocent lives were lost, along with our sense of security. After each tragedy, we hear sermons, speeches, console survivors and loved ones, but we in Congress have done little to change the way we address gun violence. I want to change that.

While massacres such as the one that occurred in Newtown draw significant attention to the issue of gun violence, it is a persistent problem throughout the Nation. According to a recent Johns Hopkins University survey, a solid majority of Americans, gun owners and nongun owners alike, support several initiatives to slow gun violence. For example, 89 percent of all respondents, and 75 percent of those identified as NRA members, support universal background checks for gun sales.

President Obama's plan also calls for a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, like the kind that have been commonly used in so many of the mass shootings we have witnessed in the United States.

We can never prevent all crimes or gun violence, but we can work together to find ways to limit the loss of lives with commonsense solutions.