Dear friend,
June is National Gun Violence Awareness Month. Every day, over 100 Americans lose their lives to gun violence. There have been over 275 mass shootings this year, and death by firearms is the leading cause of death for children in America - a horrendously grim reality.
Seven years ago this week, we tragically lost 49 neighbors in Orlando at the Pulse Night Club. In the immediate aftermath, civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis and I and our Democratic colleagues staged a peaceful sit-in on the House floor to protest inaction by the GOP-led Congress. After Democrats took the majority (and after the Uvalde tragedy), Congress passed and President Biden signed the first gun safety legislation in decades: the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Nevertheless, we must do more to keep guns out of the hands of those who seek to do harm. Specifically, background checks and the reinstitution of the assault weapons ban would be common sense measures to keep Americans safe.
Despite the overwhelming support of the American people, House Republicans have failed to show the courage needed to face the gun lobby and save lives. As a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I am committed to passing legislation that keeps all of our neighbors safe, uplift our communities and put People Over Politics.
