SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) is calling on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to rally his caucus to support "common-sense" gun law reform. (Photo: Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)
House Dems Urge McConnell to Rally GOP Behind 'Common-Sense' Gun Reform
"Gun violence impacts all of us and is an existential threat to our lives and our democracy," said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who led the letter.
Mar 17, 2022
Calling U.S. gun violence "an epidemic of catastrophic proportions," Rep. Jamaal Bowman and 48 other House Democrats on Thursday sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging him to support "common-sense reforms" that will save lives.
"Given how much is at stake, anything less than this would be a tragic, unacceptable obstruction to preventing gun violence and gun-related deaths."
Noting that "the U.S. gun death rate is 13 times greater than other high-income nations" and that "by this time each year, more Americans are killed with guns than in other high-income nations in an entire year," the letter calls for "meaningful and holistic solutions that put the needs of our constituents and communities first."
To that end, the lawmakers urge senators to pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act (H.R. 8) and the Enhanced Background Checks Act (H.R. 1446), both of which were approved by the House last year but have "sat unmoved in the Senate."
Referring to the more than 20,000 people who were fatally shot in the U.S. last year, the letter implores McConnell (R-Ky.), "You can take action now to put a stop to this spike in gun violence and loss by rallying your Republican colleagues to join Democrats in passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446."
\u201cGun violence is ruining our communities and ending lives. \n\nI led my colleagues in a letter to @LeaderMcConnell calling for common sense gun reform. The Senate cannot wait any longer to save lives.\u201d— Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@Congressman Jamaal Bowman) 1647539194
"Given how much is at stake, anything less than this would be a tragic, unacceptable obstruction to preventing gun violence and gun-related deaths," the lawmakers conclude.
In a statement, Bowman (D-N.Y.) asserted that "guns are far too accessible in our communities and have led to crisis after crisis."
"For decades now we've seen school shootings torment our school campuses, taking innocent lives and leaving entire families and communities in despair," the congressman continued. "We've seen places of day-to-day activities like schools, houses of worship, music festivals, nightclubs, and spas become places of mass casualties all because guns were accessible to the wrong person."
"Gun violence impacts all of us and is an existential threat to our lives and our democracy," Bowman added. "We must end gun violence and passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 out of the Senate sets us on the path to do that by enacting stronger and universal background checks."
An Unconstitutional Rampage
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Calling U.S. gun violence "an epidemic of catastrophic proportions," Rep. Jamaal Bowman and 48 other House Democrats on Thursday sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging him to support "common-sense reforms" that will save lives.
"Given how much is at stake, anything less than this would be a tragic, unacceptable obstruction to preventing gun violence and gun-related deaths."
Noting that "the U.S. gun death rate is 13 times greater than other high-income nations" and that "by this time each year, more Americans are killed with guns than in other high-income nations in an entire year," the letter calls for "meaningful and holistic solutions that put the needs of our constituents and communities first."
To that end, the lawmakers urge senators to pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act (H.R. 8) and the Enhanced Background Checks Act (H.R. 1446), both of which were approved by the House last year but have "sat unmoved in the Senate."
Referring to the more than 20,000 people who were fatally shot in the U.S. last year, the letter implores McConnell (R-Ky.), "You can take action now to put a stop to this spike in gun violence and loss by rallying your Republican colleagues to join Democrats in passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446."
\u201cGun violence is ruining our communities and ending lives. \n\nI led my colleagues in a letter to @LeaderMcConnell calling for common sense gun reform. The Senate cannot wait any longer to save lives.\u201d— Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@Congressman Jamaal Bowman) 1647539194
"Given how much is at stake, anything less than this would be a tragic, unacceptable obstruction to preventing gun violence and gun-related deaths," the lawmakers conclude.
In a statement, Bowman (D-N.Y.) asserted that "guns are far too accessible in our communities and have led to crisis after crisis."
"For decades now we've seen school shootings torment our school campuses, taking innocent lives and leaving entire families and communities in despair," the congressman continued. "We've seen places of day-to-day activities like schools, houses of worship, music festivals, nightclubs, and spas become places of mass casualties all because guns were accessible to the wrong person."
"Gun violence impacts all of us and is an existential threat to our lives and our democracy," Bowman added. "We must end gun violence and passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 out of the Senate sets us on the path to do that by enacting stronger and universal background checks."
Calling U.S. gun violence "an epidemic of catastrophic proportions," Rep. Jamaal Bowman and 48 other House Democrats on Thursday sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging him to support "common-sense reforms" that will save lives.
"Given how much is at stake, anything less than this would be a tragic, unacceptable obstruction to preventing gun violence and gun-related deaths."
Noting that "the U.S. gun death rate is 13 times greater than other high-income nations" and that "by this time each year, more Americans are killed with guns than in other high-income nations in an entire year," the letter calls for "meaningful and holistic solutions that put the needs of our constituents and communities first."
To that end, the lawmakers urge senators to pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act (H.R. 8) and the Enhanced Background Checks Act (H.R. 1446), both of which were approved by the House last year but have "sat unmoved in the Senate."
Referring to the more than 20,000 people who were fatally shot in the U.S. last year, the letter implores McConnell (R-Ky.), "You can take action now to put a stop to this spike in gun violence and loss by rallying your Republican colleagues to join Democrats in passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446."
\u201cGun violence is ruining our communities and ending lives. \n\nI led my colleagues in a letter to @LeaderMcConnell calling for common sense gun reform. The Senate cannot wait any longer to save lives.\u201d— Congressman Jamaal Bowman (@Congressman Jamaal Bowman) 1647539194
"Given how much is at stake, anything less than this would be a tragic, unacceptable obstruction to preventing gun violence and gun-related deaths," the lawmakers conclude.
In a statement, Bowman (D-N.Y.) asserted that "guns are far too accessible in our communities and have led to crisis after crisis."
"For decades now we've seen school shootings torment our school campuses, taking innocent lives and leaving entire families and communities in despair," the congressman continued. "We've seen places of day-to-day activities like schools, houses of worship, music festivals, nightclubs, and spas become places of mass casualties all because guns were accessible to the wrong person."
"Gun violence impacts all of us and is an existential threat to our lives and our democracy," Bowman added. "We must end gun violence and passing H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 out of the Senate sets us on the path to do that by enacting stronger and universal background checks."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.