Dear ex-LT:
Thank you for contacting me about gun violence prevention. I appreciate hearing from you.
In light of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and six more mass killings across the country last year, it is imperative that Congress act to pass strong gun safety laws that keep these weapons out of the hands of criminals, children, and mentally disturbed individuals without restricting the rights of lawful gun owners.
Sadly over the past several years, far too many innocent American children, women and men have been the victims of gun violence. The sobering statistics about gun violence speak volumes. According to the U.S. Census, of the 129,741 murders that were reported between 2000 and 2008, nearly two-thirds of the victims were killed by a firearm. Every year nearly 100,000 people in America are shot or killed with a gun according to the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence. Every day, 270 people in America - 47 of them children and teens - are injured or slain due to gun violence.
We must take immediate action to prevent this type of violence from taking place, including requiring tougher background checks, ensuring safety devices to prevent guns from being used by someone other than the owner, limiting the availability large capacity ammunition magazines, closing the gun show loophole, and reinstating the ban on assault weapons. Effective regulation of firearms is no longer an issue this country can choose to ignore. Of the 11 deadliest shootings in our nation's history, five have occurred since 2007. The time has come to end the gun violence epidemic.
Nonetheless voices like the NRA will do everything to protect guns rather than the lives of our children and law enforcement officers. I have consistently opposed the NRA and their extremist agenda and will continue to do so. As a result of this work I have received an 'F' rating from the NRA.
As we begin the 113th Congress, I have already cosponsored several bills to address the problem of gun violence, including the Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013 (H.R. 21), The Firearm Safety and Public Health Research Act of 2013 (H.R. 321), the Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act of 2013 (H.R. 142), and the Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act (H.R.138). These pieces of legislation should be passed and signed into law by President Obama. Now is the time to take serious steps to keep our nation, schools, and neighborhoods safer by helping protect against the kind of atrocities that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your concerns with me.
Sincerely,
Betty McCollum
Member of Congress
Other than her outright lie about "without restricting the rights of lawful gun owners.", I didn't see a single instance of her trying to placate gun owners. Instead, I see...
1) limiting the availability large capacity ammunition magazines
2) closing the gun show loophole, and
3) reinstating the ban on assault weapons
