Congressman Dan Goldman Calls on Speaker Mccarthy to Bring Common Sense Gun Violence Prevention Legislation to the Floor
23 Children Are Shot in the United States Every Day
118th Congress Has Yet to Vote on a Single Gun Violence Prevention Bill
Read the Letter Here
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) today joined Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-04) and fellow members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force in sending a letter to Speaker Kevin McCarthy urging him to schedule votes on vital, common-sense gun violence prevention legislation in the House of Representatives. Despite recently surpassing 400 mass shootings in the U.S. this year alone, Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans have refused to vote on legislation that would stem the tide of gun violence terrorizing our communities.
“As the father of five young kids, I am one of the millions of American parents and children who live in fear that the next mass shooting will be at their school, their grocery store, or their movie theater,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “It is no longer a question of ‘if’ there will be a next mass shooting, but ‘when,’ and that is simply unacceptable. Speaker McCarthy’s ongoing refusal to bring any legislation to the floor to address the epidemic of gun violence is an abdication of Congress’ responsibility to protect the American people.”
Gun violence is currently the leading cause of death for children in the United States. In 2022 alone, 1,686 children were killed and another 4,485 children were injured by gun violence in America.
Combating gun violence and holding gun manufacturers accountable are top priorities for Congressman Goldman. In February, the Congressman cosponsored a package of gun violence prevention legislation including an assault weapons ban, a bipartisan bill to require background checks for all firearm sales, and Ethan’s Law to require safe firearm storage to protect children and others from unsecured firearms.
Earlier this year, Congressman Goldman called for an end to the bump stock loophole, which would make it illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess the firearm modification that enables shooters to fire semiautomatic rifles continuously with one pull of the trigger, similar to a fully automatic weapon.
Congressman Goldman is a Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.
The Congressman was recently announced as the Chair of the Congressional Dads Caucus Gun Violence Prevention Working Group, bringing his experience as a father and former federal prosecutor to bear in leading on common sense solutions to the crisis, like an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, improved Red Flag laws that get guns off our streets, elevating the importance of gun violence interrupter programs, and tackling the root causes of violence in our communities.
Read the full letter here and below:
Dear Speaker McCarthy,
We are disappointed that Republican leadership cancelled votes in July with so many pressing issues facing our country. Foremost amongst those is the gun violence crisis that is the leading cause of death for children in America.
As Members of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, we call on you to schedule votes on gun violence prevention legislation as soon as possible this year. We also have a new standing request that should the vote schedule fall apart again, you would fill that time to vote on life-saving gun violence prevention legislation, instead of canceling votes altogether.
Gun violence is the leading cause of death of children in America since 2020. Last year, 1,686 children were killed and another 4,485 were injured by gun violence. Despite this preventable carnage, the House has yet to vote on even one gun violence prevention bill.
To save the lives of our kids, we only need the opportunity to vote on gun violence prevention legislation and the support from a tiny minority of the Republican Conference. For example, if only 20 Republicans, 10 in the House and 10 in the Senate voted for the Bipartisan Background Checks bill, we would have the votes to help prevent felons, domestic abusers, terrorists and people with serious mental health conditions from accessing guns.
The American people strongly support action on the gun violence crisis and the gun violence prevention laws that will keep their kids alive. A recent Fox News poll shows that 87 percent support universal background checks; 80 percent support red flag laws and 61 percent support banning assault weapons.
We reiterate our insistence that the House schedule votes on gun violence prevention legislation without further delay and also offer to quickly advance gun violence prevention legislation should other planned legislation be canceled again.
###