Gun Violence Prevention

An educator I know told me that after Uvalde, she sat down with her students and told them she would take a bullet for them. Conversations like this are happening in communities across the country, but no one should have to live with the constant fear of gun violence.

I helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first substantive action on gun violence prevention since the passage of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act in 1994.  This legislation incentivizes states to establish extreme risk protection order laws that would allow courts temporarily take firearms from an individual who is a risk to themselves or others. Our bipartisan law also enhances background checks for people under the age of 21, ends straw purchasing – purchases that bypass background checks by asking another person to buy the firearm – and penalizes gun traffickers.

As a member of the Gun Violence Prevention Taskforce, I recognize there is much more we must do to end the scourge of gun violence. We cannot bring back those who have been murdered, but we can enact meaningful laws that will prevent more senseless deaths.

Require Universal, Comprehensive Background Checks

Oregon and a few other states have strong background check requirements, but unfortunately people can simply cross state lines and buy weapons in states with background check loopholes. That's why Congress must take action. I have consistently supported bipartisan legislation to establish universal background checks, which would help stop criminals from getting weapons they are not legally allowed to purchase.

Nationally, millions of guns are exchanged each year without a background check. In states like Oregon that require a background check for all gun sales, there has been a significant drop in domestic violence deaths and suicide.

Limit Gun Magazine Sizes

I support banning the sale of magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition. In Orlando, the shooter who perpetrated a deadly mass shooting was able to fire twenty rounds in nine seconds. The shooter at Newtown fired 154 rounds. The shooter in Aurora came equipped with a 100-round drum magazine.

Reinstate the Ban on Military Style Assault Weapons

The shootings in Newtown, Clackamas Town Center, Aurora, Uvalde, and many more show the need to reinstate and improve the Assault Weapons Ban that expired in 2004. Although the 1994 law was not flawless, I support efforts to reinstate the ban and stop future sales of military-style assault weapons and large capacity magazines. These guns and the ammunition they carry are designed for one thing: killing a lot of people very quickly. They don't belong in our communities. Stopping future sales of these deadly weapons is a commonsense measure that will help save innocent lives.

Allow and Fund Gun Violence Research

Gun violence kills about 40,000 Americans every year, and firearms recently became the leading killer of children ages 1-19.  The American people deserve to have our nation's leading researchers and scientists studying the effects of gun violence. In 2018, I supported the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus bill that made it clear that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can study gun violence as a public health issue. There is still more work to do to address gun violence, and this critical research can help us identify effective solutions. I support legislation to dedicate $50 million annually in firearms safety and gun violence prevention studies at the CDC.

Protect Vulnerable People from Violence

After the racist targeting and murder of grocery shoppers in Buffalo and the devastating attack against the Latino community in El Paso, every policymaker should and must denounce white supremacy. We must also take further action to improve hate crime data collection, as well as enact policies to better monitor domestic extremism and combat white supremacy. I support the Disarm Hate Act to prohibit people who are convicted of a hate crime or who received an enhanced sentence for committing a hate crime from acquiring or possessing firearms. This is a critical step after the tragedy in Colorado Springs to also protect the LGTBQI+ community from the rise in hate crimes.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act safeguards survivors of domestic violence by taking steps toward closing the so-called "boyfriend loophole," prohibiting people convicted of domestic violence crimes from possessing firearms.

Uphold the Second Amendment

I support the rights of gun owners, the vast majority of whom are law-abiding citizens who understand the responsibilities that go along with gun ownership. Every step taken to reduce gun violence must be constitutional and consistent with the Second Amendment.