“Yesterday, the House passed a broad package of gun-safety measures that will protect our kids and make communities safer.  Today, we followed with even more action to save lives and address the scourge of gun violence.  I was proud to support the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Act, which would empower families and law enforcement to prevent those known to be a threat to themselves or others from legally obtaining a deadly firearm.  As recent mass shootings have demonstrated, when anyone can get one’s hands on a gun easily and quickly – including those who have made their harmful intentions clear – everyone becomes a potential victim.  This legislation will help ensure that those who cannot be trusted to bear arms responsibly will not be able to do so. 

“This legislation was born from the courage of Reps. McBath and Carbajal, who each suffered terrible personal loss as a result of gun violence.  Rep. McBath’s seventeen-year-old son Jordan was shot and killed in 2012, and Rep. Carbajal was just twelve years old when he found that his older sister had taken her life with their father’s handgun.  They know the pain, grief, and loss felt by the loved-ones of victims from recent attacks in Uvalde, Buffalo, and Philadelphia – as well as from the shootings that occur every single day in communities across America that do not make national news.  They had the courage to turn their grief into positive action in order to prevent others from having to endure the same pain. 

“This legislation will make a difference – but only if the Senate joins the House in passing it.  I urge them to do so, just as I continue to urge senators to advance the other gun-safety legislation we passed yesterday as well as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act.  Now is our moment to act, and I hope Democrats and Republicans can at last come together to enact commonsense gun-safety legislation before hundreds more lives are cut short.”