Gun Violence Prevention

Throughout his career, Congressman Tierney has argued for and supported common sense gun violence prevention reforms, including background checks, an assault weapons ban, and limiting the sale of high ammunition magazines. As a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, Congressman Tierney is working with like-minded colleagues to pass reasonable measures that gun safety advocates, as well as gun owners, should be able to support. Recent events, including the shootings in Connecticut, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Colorado, and the more than 30 gun-related deaths that occur every day in the United States, have led many Americans across our country to direct their attention on this important issue, and are demanding action.

To read more about Congressman Tierney’s thoughts on gun violence prevention, please read his op-ed, published in the Lowell Sun in the weeks following the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT.

“Smart Guns” are a Smart Solution

In the first few months of 2013 alone, dozens of stories appeared in the news about children who have been affected by accidental gun firings: a 3-year old boy from Ohio accidentally shot himself after finding his father’s loaded gun in a bedroom; a 4-year old from New Jersey was shot by her 6-year old playmate; a sheriff’s wife from Tennessee was killed by her 4-year old nephew. These cases – and the dozens and dozens of others just like them that occur every month in our country – are tragic and entirely preventable.

That is why Congressman Tierney introduced the Personalized Handgun Safety Act (H.R. 2005), which would compel gun manufacturers to equip all handguns with personalization technology that ensures that the gun can only be fired by its authorized users. Specifically, the Personalized Handgun Safety Act authorizes grants to the National Institute of Justice for the research and development of personalized gun technology, allows the Consumer Product Safety Commission to oversee the safety of guns and requires that they establish a personalized gun safety standard, requires that personalized gun technology be implemented and bans the manufacture, importation, purchase, and sale of a non-personalized handgun within 2 years, and permits litigation against firearms manufacturers if they do not produce to the newly created safety standard.

Additional information on the Personalized Handgun Safety Act:

Other Gun Violence Prevention Measures

Congressman Tierney, however, knows that personalized handguns will not be the sole solution to preventing gun violence in the United States. A comprehensive approach is warranted. Congressman Tierney lends his support to a wide variety of initiatives in order to address the various causes of these gun-related deaths and gun violence in general. Some such legislation that Congressman Tierney has cosponsored thus far in the 113th Congress includes:

The Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act (H.R. 93), which places restrictions on transferring of business inventory firearms into a personal collection for anyone whose federal license to import, manufacture, or deal in firearms has been revoked or whose license renewal application has been denied;
The Fix Gun Check Act (H.R. 137), which strengthens the National Instant Criminal Background Check System;
The Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act (H.R. 138), which places restrictions on large capacity ammunition;
The Firearm Safety and Public Health Research Act (H.R. 321), which lifts restrictions on federal funding to conduct research on firearms safety or gun violence;
The Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act (H.R. 332), which would ensure that victims of gun violence are able to try their cases in court;
The Trafficking Reduction and Criminal Enforcement (TRACE) Act (H.R. 427), which requires that all firearms manufactured in the United States be marked with a serial number located inside the firearm’s receiver or that is visible only in infrared light;
The Gun Transparency and Accountability (Gun TRAC) Act (H.R. 431), which repeals the Tiahrt Amendments – a set or rules that restricts law enforcement’s ability to trace the flow of illegal guns;
The Assault Weapons Ban (H.R. 437), which reinstates and strengthens the ban on assault weapons previously in place;
The Gun Trafficking Prevention Act (H.R. 452), which would increase penalties for those who participate in “straw purchases,” or people who buy guns illegally for those who should not be purchasing guns;
The Tiahrt Restrictions Repeal Act (H.R. 661), which would repeal the Tiahrt Amendments;
The Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act (H.R. 1565), which would strengthen and expand enforceable background checks for firearm purchases;
The Enforce Existing Gun Laws Act (H.R. 1728), which would require that all laws requiring gun safety enforcement or research be fulfilled;
The Child Handgun Safety Act (H.R. 2567), based on Massachusetts standards, which would require that all handguns that are manufactured have sufficient trigger pressure so small children cannot pull the trigger; and
The Undetectable Firearm Act (H.R. 3643), which would require all guns be made entirely of materials that can be detected by a metal detector given the advancement of 3-D printing technology.