From the Office of Congressman Kweisi Mfume
Representative Kweisi Mfume
U.S. Representative for the 7th District of Maryland
Washington D.C. | Baltimore Office
(202) 225-4741 | (410) 685-9199
For Immediate Release
June 8, 2022
Congressman Kweisi Mfume Statement on Gun Violence and Hearing Held by U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform
Gun violence victims from Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York testified alongside Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, the Buffalo Police Commissioner, and various other experts at today’s hearing.
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) participated in a congressional hearing entitled “The Urgent Need to Address the Gun Violence Epidemic” convened by the Oversight and Reform Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Gun violence victims from Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York testified alongside Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, the Buffalo Police Commissioner, and various other experts on gun violence. Congressman Mfume made the following statement during today’s hearing – please click here to view his full statement .
Congressman Kweisi Mfume also issued the following written statement this afternoon after participating in the hearing.
“Listening to the victims and families from Buffalo and Uvalde who came before my Committee today, I remained stunned and heartbroken. The gun carnage that continues in schools, supermarkets, movie theaters, churches and on the streets of Baltimore is the cross we all bear,” said Congressman Mfume. “The new gun laws that will be passed in the U.S. House today must be seen as just a beginning, otherwise we are doomed in our fight against murderers, and the evil and pain that they spread," he concluded.
The U.S. House will vote later today on H.R. 7910, the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” which includes a collection of gun violence prevention titles. Some of these provisions include:
Raising the age to purchase specific semi-automatic weapons to 21 years old;
Creating new federal offenses for gun trafficking and straw purchases;
Redefining ghost guns as a type of “firearm” under law to increase regulation and subject purchases of these kits to background checks;
Increasing safe gun storage requirements; and
Outlawing bump stocks and high-capacity magazines.
Tomorrow, the U.S. House is scheduled to consider H.R. 2377, the “Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act,” which gives family members and law enforcement officers the capacity to petition a federal court for an extreme risk protection order to temporarily remove firearms access from individuals considered a danger to themselves or others by the judicial system. Congressman Mfume, as a cosponsor of both bills, is helping lead the effort to pass them in the U.S. House. ###
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