Congressman Morgan McGarvey Convenes Congressional Progressive Caucus Special Order Hour on Pressing Need for Gun Violence Prevention
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 12, 2024) – On Thursday, April 11th, Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) led his Congressional Progressive Caucus colleagues in a Special Order Hour on the pressing need to pass gun violence prevention legislation in the wake of the anniversary of the Old National Bank mass shooting. Reps. Tlaib (D-MI), DeSaulnier (D-CA), and Neguse (D-CO) also joined to call on House Republicans to bring gun safety legislation to a vote. You can find a video of the full special order hour here.
“America’s epidemic of gun violence that takes 40,000 lives per year, and more children than any other cause, almost always has a slew of common denominators: a firearm — often a semi-automatic — under a legal framework that exists only in America,” said Rep. McGarvey. “Nowhere else in the world has seen this epidemic of death — and done absolutely nothing about it… This is not the world we are forced to live in. This is the world we have chosen to live in. We in this body can do something about it.”
“It is important to understand— this is a true fact--that gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens in our country,” said Rep. Tlaib. “As of today, there have already been 106 mass shootings — that is more mass shootings than the days in the year so far. You know what is more horrific? It is more horrific that the gun violence in our communities that is happening every single day doesn't even make the news anymore. Congress has become so numb —this institution— truly numb to the gun violence crisis in our country that they are not even paying attention any longer.”
“Gun suicide rates in states with the strongest gun safety laws, like California, have actually decreased over the past two decades,” said Rep. DeSaulnier. “Meanwhile, in states with the weakest gun safety laws, gun suicide rates have increased by almost 40 percent. They have gone down in states with constitutional, legal, evidence-based research gun violence protection laws, but they have gone up by 40 percent in those states with the weakest. If all U.S. States had experienced the same trend in their gun suicide rate as the eight states with the strongest gun safety laws, approximately 72,000 fewer people would have died from gun suicides.”
“There are far too many mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, children, Americans, dying from gun violence…” said Rep. Neguse. “We have the power to stop it. If we follow the articulate admonition of my friend and colleague Mr. McGarvey by passing common-sense solutions here in this Chamber, and for those who doubt our ability to do so, Mr. Speaker, I will point you to fairly recent history. There were many, many who doubted the ability of the United States Congress and the President to enact laws, commonsense laws that ultimately would and could save lives. They were wrong. Because of President Biden's leadership, we passed a bill in the last Congress, the 117th Congress, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. That law is saving lives today.”
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