Gun Violence

Gun violence claims over 30,000 lives per year, including nearly 20,000 firearm-related suicides. Despite this epidemic, Congress has sadly failed for years to take basic steps to curb gun violence despite overwhelming support for such measures by Americans from all political backgrounds.

It is a major priority for me to enact laws requiring a background check on every gun sale, in order to help keep guns out of the hands of those like to use them to commit crimes. I also support enacting restrictions on weapons designed for the battlefield, which are so often used in the mass shootings that have claimed so many lives in schools, churches, hospitals, theaters, malls, and so on. I have also championed "Extreme Risk Protection Order" laws, also known as "red flag" laws, which empower family members and law enforcement to petition a judge for a warrant to remove guns from those who demonstrate a serious threat to themselves or others. 

None of these measures by themselves would completely end gun violence in America, but studies suggest that each of them has the power to save many lives. I will continue to push for these and other gun reforms in the House of Representatives.